0:00

On with Mario a little bit and

0:04

Mario Lopez joining me down studio. Actress,

0:06

musician singer A J. Maschaka.

0:08

Welcome to the show. Okay, how are you. I'm

0:10

well? Thank you. What what

0:13

is the ethnicity behind Maschaka?

0:15

It's Czechoslovakia, Czech Slava. Okay,

0:18

my dad's side. Very cool name. Thank

0:20

you. Did you ever get any pressure or

0:22

consider changing it? Yes.

0:25

When my sister and I first first,

0:28

I should say, get it, got into the business, we

0:30

definitely got encouraged to like change the last

0:32

name, like either go by a first name, pick a middle

0:35

name as your last like I'm going I'm not gonna

0:37

go by a Manda Joy. Like that's a great name,

0:39

but I love my last name to stray

0:42

away from that. Good for you, by the way, thank

0:44

you. So I really, I really stand by and

0:46

I always just tell people it's it's easy once you get used

0:48

to it. It's like Chaka khan h

0:50

is like an shd ellis silent. By the way, you would

0:52

have gone with Amanda Joy. That's that

0:55

sounds really made up. Even though that sounds

0:57

it sounds ridiculous and a manage.

1:00

Always like okay, I'm at Joy. What it doesn't sound

1:02

like it's finished, right, right, right, it's a peppy name.

1:04

Peppy name. I'm

1:06

from here, born and raised California, l

1:09

A. Yeah, I was born in Torrance, grew up in the Valley

1:12

Religent, Seattle for a few years as a kid. But what

1:14

schoold you go here your

1:16

home school? How would you like that? I loved it? Yeah,

1:19

I really did that because of the entertainment industry

1:21

and it is Yeah, I means

1:23

as much as it's like, gosh, you hope that that doesn't control

1:26

your your life, you know as a kid, it does.

1:28

I mean I was missing so much regular school

1:30

and it was getting to a point where it would

1:32

kind of it would pile on to

1:34

the point where it would be the center of you

1:36

know, bullying attention was like where weren't

1:38

you in school this week? Where were you? Oh, you're an actress,

1:40

you think you're finishing. No, I just I happen

1:43

to work on our show. Like, yes, I have a job and it's

1:46

weird. I'm eleven years old, but I'm sorry

1:48

kill me. So you know, it turned

1:50

into this thing where it was like my mom was like I don't I don't

1:52

want you guys dealing with this, and also there's so many

1:54

other things you want to experience, whether it's

1:56

horseback writing, or dance lessons or vocal

1:59

lessons or piano guitar. We were

2:01

doing so much extracurricular that besides

2:03

the industry, it just made sense to be

2:05

homeschool, to be home and then work on those like extracurricular

2:08

activities after school where you're learning the two

2:10

where you're you're also learning, right totally,

2:12

What what came first, the music or the acting. Um,

2:17

I want to say simultaneously in the sense

2:19

that they both kind of popped off at the same time. But

2:21

I would say music probably

2:25

probably came first in the sense that

2:27

that I knew that I was going to be in a band

2:29

with my sister at a young age, Like I knew we were going

2:31

to start a band together. We started

2:33

writing and we started playing guitar and piano around

2:35

ten and ten or eleven, and that's when

2:37

we started writing our own songs, and

2:40

um, that's the first time where I really felt like

2:42

this is something I want to do for the rest of my life,

2:44

you know, whereas the acting kind of came came a little

2:46

later. Yeah, any brothers sisters,

2:51

Yeah, we're super close. We literally worked together,

2:53

we lived together. Yeah, she

2:56

got married. Yeah, it's really cool. Yeah you

2:58

still continue. Yeah

3:00

it's a bit, Yeah, I had to part way. Is that something exactly?

3:05

You're currently on the Show's Schooled, which

3:07

is a spinoff of The Goldbergs. But for those who may not

3:09

be familiar with the premise, um,

3:12

so school takes place ten ish years

3:14

later. We never really say, but we're in the nineties.

3:16

We come back to our old high school. If you're

3:18

familiar with the Goldbergs, are characters

3:21

Me, Barry, Erica. We all grew up going to William

3:23

Penn. Um. It's a real charter school

3:25

in Jenkintown outside of Philly where

3:27

Adam Goldberg grew up and his siblings.

3:30

And my character ends up basically

3:32

a failed musician and ten years later gets a job

3:34

at our old high school as the music teacher. So

3:37

I'm back at William Penn and here we are in the nineties,

3:39

and I'm I'm working with all the people that also kind

3:41

of helped raise me, like Coach Miller and Principal

3:44

Glasscott, and now we're all um

3:46

kind of uh, we're all co workers. It's really

3:48

cool and you get to rock the nineties gear,

3:50

which which is what really if

3:52

you're trying, because there's different I feel like early

3:55

nineties is grunge in the mid nineties,

3:57

right, Yeah, it changes for sure. Yeah,

4:00

there's many different layers to the nineties.

4:02

What did it become in the mid nineties, it was sort of hip hop

4:04

I think started coming. It was a little bit. It was

4:06

like Cris Cross like that. It

4:09

was hip hop a little countries

4:11

because like country phase, the

4:14

denim tux in the

4:17

eighties, which was pretty consistent. Yeah,

4:19

I know you're right, right right, Um,

4:22

that was interesting. Yeah. We definitely my character

4:24

in particular just being that that she

4:26

is who she is, does not really go through the grunge

4:28

phase at all in the nineties. She's

4:31

like she's like Madonna nineties, you know what I

4:33

mean. It's like heavy shoulder pads, like

4:35

blazers, tight short skirt, tons

4:38

of jewelry. Um, that's very lady,

4:40

very And it's a cool cast to tim anagas

4:43

star Brian Callen, who's

4:46

the funniest on set, Oh

4:48

my gosh, um everyone it has

4:51

such a big personality. I mean, our set is there's

4:53

never a dull moment. I would say my favorite

4:55

person on set. Has to be Red Dyer

4:58

because him and I are just we've become

5:00

super close. We've known each other now for a couple of years.

5:02

I'm so happy he's on the show with us. I

5:05

loved Tim and Brian, but Brett

5:07

just brings something different to the show.

5:09

And being that he's a New York character, he's

5:11

just so he's so authentic. His

5:13

comedy is so fresh, and he was on a drama

5:16

for five years and he was wonderful on it. But it's

5:18

really cool to see him break out and do comedy what

5:20

he does best, I think, and so having

5:22

him on this show as a co star has been really fun. Yeah.

5:25

And uh, speaking of nineties, this want to put it out

5:27

there. Everyone can dial up the I Heart Radio

5:30

I Heart Nineties Radio on the

5:32

I Heart Radio app. What's your favorite

5:34

music from that era? I would say

5:36

Nirvana too, Yeah,

5:39

early nineties. Yeah, yeah, that would

5:41

probably be my my Jam if I had to pick anything from

5:43

the nineties. See, I got to go because

5:45

I'm a lot older than you. Remember when Nirvana

5:48

and Pearl Jam were together in concert

5:51

getting to check them out. You didn't you know, you didn't realize at

5:53

the time that it's kind of something special. You're

5:55

watching Ryan. Yeah, and then did you see

5:57

him in San Diego and Sang

6:00

when they came out? And who and somebody else I think

6:02

opened Okay, well those are the two I remember though

6:04

for sure. I think by the time I got there, but

6:07

that was in Nirvana was opening four? It

6:09

was yeah, four Pearl jam who was great

6:11

too, by the way, during that time

6:14

right there, And this is cool. You're also a voice

6:16

on the Netflix hit Shira and the Princess

6:18

of Power and played Catra. Yeah,

6:20

I'm the villain. It's so fun. Yeah, that's gonna

6:22

be fun. Yeah, And season four just came out on Netflix

6:25

and she really kind of has taken taken

6:27

the throne. She's like the forced captain now,

6:29

so she's she's all about defeating

6:31

Shira and the Princesses. And it's it's interesting

6:34

because you know, so much of my career

6:36

has been not the villain, and now I'm voicing

6:38

the villain of the show. And it's amazing because it's like

6:40

it's a reimagining of the eighties cartoon and

6:42

it's so cool to be in line with like the fans of he

6:44

Man and the original Shira and now, you know, be

6:47

a part of this kind of this new

6:49

new version of it. It's really cool. It's cool that you're stuck

6:51

in like this era. I know all

6:54

about eighties or nineties. I don't do anything

6:56

outside of that at all. Even

6:58

my music is like eighties in spy pop.

7:00

It's also funny, like nothing about what I do is current

7:02

good for you? For you, So switching

7:05

gears for a saying you're still playing music? Ali

7:07

and AJ hitting the road. What's the what's the

7:09

life show look like? Our life

7:11

show is so much fun. It's crazy because we took a

7:13

really long break, like if you normal music. We got

7:16

signed at a really young age. That's why I kind of say the music

7:18

took off. First signed to Hollywood Records

7:20

early early teens, put out two records under

7:22

them UM and they really hit

7:25

hard. And then my sister and I took a really

7:27

long break from music, like we took about ten years off

7:29

and only recently came back with two new EPs

7:32

in the last three years. UM and

7:34

we just started touring again. We did forty cities

7:36

this last year, cities the year before. UM.

7:39

But the show is so the live show is so fun. It's

7:41

like an hour and a half of music. It's inspiring, it's

7:43

it's it's it's loving. Our fans

7:46

are really cool. We just have such it. There's a great

7:48

vibe when you come to our show. The energy is really it's

7:50

palpable, like you can feel it. People leave and they're like, wow,

7:52

I feel like I actually experience something tonight,

7:55

not just music, something on a on a higher

7:57

level, which is really cool. That's how you want

7:59

to leave stay. So I'm really proud

8:01

of it. We're going out on the road. We're doing like a week

8:03

run UM first week of December. UM

8:05

tickets around sale now alien aj dot com if

8:07

you guys want to come see us, but we're playing Vegas

8:10

and San Diego and San Francisco. Nice. We'll

8:12

put all the info up to h D, Mario and

8:14

Doctor and I wanted to mention this. Your

8:16

movie Super eight was recently named one of the best

8:19

sci fi films of the decade. It was,

8:21

yeah, that's so cool. Thanks.

8:23

I'm a tiny role in that, but that's so cool. A

8:26

part of what do you remember from that time? Oh

8:30

my gosh, that was so long ago. Um.

8:32

I mean, I love working with all those kids.

8:34

They're brilliant and that was kind of at the beginning

8:37

of Like, I mean, al Fanning had already done a ton, but that

8:39

I feel like that movie really kind of put her over the

8:41

edge as a as a star um

8:43

but working with j. J. Abrams and I remember Steven

8:45

Spielberg coming to set at one point. I mean, it

8:48

was just incredible to be a part of something that you knew

8:50

was important. You know, it felt like we were making a

8:53

Spielberg movie. Were but also it was

8:56

JJ's take on it and and growing up they

8:58

did a lot together, him and Stephen. But it

9:00

was interesting that that, you know, to work

9:03

with all these kids and then you have this movie kind

9:05

of launch. It wasn't a kid film, you

9:07

know what I mean. It was definitely kids were obviously

9:09

involved, they were all the leads, but adults

9:11

love them. It's such a like important staple

9:14

in sci fi at this point, which is neat.

9:18

Yeah, thank you. And this is fun fact.

9:20

Your mom used to be a Raider's cheerleader. Yeah,

9:23

she was a Raider at Anna Rams cheerler. She went to the Super

9:25

Bowl. Yeah, doubled, Yeah,

9:27

she doubled and they won. They won that

9:29

air with the Raiders. Raiders

9:32

Okay, so she was like two. Yeah,

9:34

yeah, she was early. Yeah, I can't remember exactly, but

9:36

that was a good one. Marcus Allen. That's right, that's

9:38

right, Marcus Allen. Yeah, so she did both. So

9:41

she was a dancer growing up or was? Yeah, she

9:43

was. She was a Paton twirler. She was like seventh

9:45

in the nation. She was a gymnast. Yeah,

9:48

super athletic. Yeah. Like so

9:50

she's a local girl too from l a here. Um, she

9:52

was actually born in Baton Rouge and grew up in

9:54

Washington. That's why I lived in Seattle

9:56

as a kid. I want you wanted to be closer to family,

9:59

but my dad is California native. Your dad's

10:01

californiaatt a guy, try

10:04

it out, the whole deal exactly, l

10:06

A. She then met my dad and the rest

10:08

is right out. We'll congratulations

10:10

on everything. Thank you. And what's your handle on

10:12

social media? Which which platforms

10:15

you use the most? Would you say? Um, Instagram?

10:17

I would say either my own I am a J

10:19

or alien a j Okay, those are the two

10:21

that I mainly switched between, either my band or my

10:23

own. And what what are you doing for Thanksgiving?

10:27

My house? We're doing mine for the first time in

10:29

a while, so we kind of rotate. My mom's gonna

10:31

cook, my brother in law will cook. Um,

10:33

it'll be my guy, my sister and my dad. It'll

10:35

be six of us. Just intimate, all the dogs,

10:38

small hang and good feast. That's the way

10:40

to do it. Yeah, I'm excited. We keep it simple. What's your

10:42

favorite Thanksgiving side? Se

10:45

potatoes? Okay, for sure, my

10:47

favorite. Don't want them too sweet. I don't eat a

10:49

bunch of marshmallows on top. What

10:55

about Christmas? You're sticking around, you're taking off? Probably

10:57

stick around. My mom lives up North

11:00

is about two and a half hours away. She lives kind of in the countryside,

11:02

so we're gonna probably enjoy time on her.

11:04

Yeah. All right, And for everyone listening, we got

11:07

ten different holiday stations on the I Heart

11:09

radio app ag Do you like classic

11:11

Christmas music or more modern stuff? Classic

11:14

like Frank Sinatra type Christmas? There you go. That's

11:17

see, we're on the same page right there. All right, before you go, I'm gonna

11:19

put you on the spot. Quick questions, quick answers. All right, first

11:22

song, you know you knew all the lyrics to um

11:26

switch for Dare you to move? Wow?

11:28

That was quick. What's

11:30

your best dish to cook? M?

11:34

Lusagna? Okay, that's

11:37

a lot of work. It's a lot of work. My

11:39

mom taught me. Favorite follow

11:41

on Instagram? Did I follow

11:45

um Britney Spears? I

11:49

find entertaining that right, very entertaining.

11:52

Best in worst subjects in school, worst

11:55

math, best English,

11:58

same same celebrity

12:00

crush growing up, Um,

12:06

Jonathan Taylor, Thomas H. Skill.

12:10

You still want to learn violin

12:13

violent? Okay?

12:17

Watch Schooled Wednesdays on ABC.

12:20

A J. Thanks so much for coming away. Appreciate you having

12:22

me right with

12:24

Mario Lopez