The HawtPlates Perform Live

Summary

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Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: The HawtPlates Perform Live
Date: January 13, 2026
Host: Alison Stewart (A)
Guests: The HawtPlates – Justin Hicks (B), Jade Hicks (F), Kenita Miller Hicks (C)

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Overview

This episode of All Of It spotlights The HawtPlates, a Bronx-based band renowned for their innovative blend of music and theater. The group joins Alison Stewart to discuss their new live performance piece, Dream Feed, currently running at the Here Art Center as part of the Under the Radar Festival. The HawtPlates blend family harmonies, theatrical improvisation, and generational storytelling to create a shared dream experience for audiences.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to The HawtPlates and Dream Feed

• Alison Stewart introduces The HawtPlates and their musical theater piece, Dream Feed:

  • "Music has the power to affect our mood, shape our state of mind, bring back memories and feelings. And a new show from the Bronx based band is using music to tap into your dreams. It's called Dream Feed and is described as a shared dream sequence and live concept album." (00:39)

• Dream Feed aims to foster a “shared dream sequence,” exploring the role of aspiration and memory through music and performance.

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2. Live Music Performances

a. "Teeth" (01:44–07:54)

• The segment opens with a powerful and atmospheric live rendition of “Teeth,” featuring haunting harmonies and emotive lyrics:

  • "Maybe these teeth are wise... A root breaks a crack of bone." (01:57)
  • The song flows between introspective verses and layered vocals, touching on themes of self-awareness and transformation.

• Alison, after the performance:

  • "That was awesome. That was Justin Hicks, Jade Hicks, and Kenita Miller Hicks, the Hot Plates." (07:54)

b. "Mustard Anthem" (12:46–15:55)

• The group performs “Mustard Anthem,” a piece written by their friend Dawn Meredith Smith, evoking everyday struggles and hope:
  • "We've had it bad so this is pretty good... And may we be dreamers, thinkers while still dancers, will true believer study thinking of some answer by the faith of a mustard seed?" (13:09)

c. "Rest Stop" (18:53–23:27)

• The final live song, “Rest Stop,” is intimate and soothing, offering a metaphorical space for rest and connection:
  • "Shoes can be so tough on those feet of yours... I make a mean cup of stuff you like a tub of water I'm boiling for your needs." (19:16)
  • The chorus repeats:
    • "Shoes so tough on your feet. Them shoes so tough on your feet so bound to break you up." (19:58)

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3. Family, Musical Roots & Improvisation

a. Musical Upbringing

• Justin discusses music in their home:

  • "My mom actually... played the autoharp for us. This instrument was kind of instrumental in the building of Dream Feed, actually. I actually can't remember when music became a thing in my life. It just has always been there." (08:14)

• Jade on her mother’s voice and influence:

  • "Huge. I still hear her voice in my voice every day. She introduced us to so many different genres of music. She was a big lover of jazz, but also reached out and did a lot of different sounds, which I really do think solidified as a heartbeat in the HawtPlates." (08:56)

• Kenita describes growing up around music, albeit more privately:

  • "My mom sings... She has the most beautiful voice, the most beautiful vibrato, but it's nothing that she ever shared as far as performance. It was more just for herself internally. So I think that's where I get a bit of my influence from." (09:28)

b. Formation of The HawtPlates

• Justin recounts the group’s origin story, rooted in covering Odetta’s music and family jam sessions:
  • "About 11 years ago now... we ended up all landing in the same apartment. It was easy for us to get together and jam or just, like, meet in The Living Room and Jam Out... A friend of ours, Kaneza Shaw, a terrific director and producer, suggested a project based on Odetta. We came close to calling it the Odetta Project, but that felt limiting. So we went with the Hot Plates... a little bit of a riff on what it means to be in New York and to find what you need both creatively and spiritually... I used to be a chef, so it's like a corny rich trying to offer some sustenance." (10:01)

c. Improvisation vs. Theater

• On improvisation, Jade shares:

  • "Yes. That's a big part of performance for me. I enjoy that a lot. Being in the experimental side of things is not only fun, but we get to try different sounds all the time." (11:43)

• Kenita reflects on the difference between theatrical acting and improvising in the band:

  • "Whereas I feel like in theater... you might have to isolate a part of yourself to become somebody else... Whereas this is my family. So I just don't feel as many boundaries...” (12:09)

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4. Exploring Dream Feed

• Justin describes the conceptual core of Dream Feed:

  • "Dream Feed is sort of a collection of feelings that we've had in relationship to our investigation of the phenomenon of dreaming: dreaming while you're awake, dreaming while you're asleep... generational dreaming and what it means to carry on a dream, perhaps of your ancestors or perhaps of someone not related to you... There's a strong thread of motherhood and maternity in this piece." (16:09)

• Jade on the music as “adult lullabies”:

  • "A lot of the songs are kind of like adult lullabies, so I think that many of us will be able to relate. It's lullabies for our adult humans who have been through some things." (16:59)

• Kenita on vulnerability and the communal aspect of sharing dreams:

  • "Just share them, you know, be courageous enough to share them... there's such symbolism and you may not understand what they are... hopefully, in the sharing, you're also sharing a thread of your humanity that another human can identify with." (17:19)

• Justin on what audiences should bring to Dream Feed:

  • "I would say they should be open minded only because I am pretty certain that even from the first note that we sing, you're not gonna be able to predict that that's even what's happening... everything feels like a surprise. And I think everything is kind of a reveal... the reveal of the voice, the reveal of objects, the reveal of thoughts and ideas, and of... the iconography of the dream world." (18:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Musical Heredity:
  • "I still hear her voice in my voice every day." – Jade (08:56)
• On the Band’s Improvisational Spirit:
  • "Being in the experimental side of things is not only fun, but we get to try different sounds all the time." – Jade (11:43)
• On Dream Feed as an Experience:
  • "Even from the first note that we sing, you're not gonna be able to predict that that's even what's happening... everything feels like a surprise." – Justin (18:02)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro to Episode & HawtPlates: 00:39–01:40
• Performance: "Teeth": 01:44–07:54
• Band Introductions & Musical Upbringings: 08:08–10:01
• Forming The HawtPlates: 10:01–11:36
• Improvisation vs Theater: 11:43–12:39
• Performance: "Mustard Anthem": 12:46–15:55
• Describing Dream Feed: 16:09–16:50
• Music as Adult Lullabies/Shared Dreaming: 16:59–17:51
• Audience Advice for Dream Feed: 18:02–18:41
• Performance: "Rest Stop": 18:53–23:27

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Tone & Style

The episode is warm, conversational, and reflective, blending the intimacy of a family jam session with the intellectual curiosity of experimental theater-makers. The discussion ranges from affectionate family stories to musings on communal dreaming, always grounded in the soulful, genre-crossing music of The HawtPlates.

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For more information or to see The HawtPlates live, catch Dream Feed at the Here Art Center until January 25th, as highlighted in this soulful, thought-provoking episode of All Of It.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Music has the power to affect our mood, shape our state of mind, bring back memories and feelings. And a new show from the Bronx based band is using music to tap into your dreams. It's called Dream Feed and is described as a shared dream sequence and live concept album. The music is performed by the Hot Plates whose work with the bassist and songwriter Michelle Andegicello has earned them Grammy awards. You might also recognize them as the vocalists from her tiny desk set. The band's members are also decorated theater performers. Justin Hicks is a drama desk nominated singer, songwriter and sound artist. His sister Jade Hicks and wife Kenita Miller Hicks are both stage actors. Kenita was nominated for a Tony just a few years ago for her role in For Colored Girls who have considered Suicide. Dreamfeed is running at the Hear ART center through January 25th as part of the under the Radar festival. And the Hot Plates are here with me now in studio. Welcome.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Hey, how's it going?

[C]

Great to be here.

[A]

Could you kick us off with some music?

[B]

Yes, absolutely. We'll do a tune called Teeth.

[D]

Maybe these, Maybe these maybe these teeth. Maybe these teeth are wise. Maybe this, Maybe this tooth. Maybe this tooth confessing. First A root breaks a crack of bone.

[C]

A body.

[D]

A body search is looking in Seeing something once again A window. I don't know if I can make it through the night. Make me down a place where I can ease my mind.

[E]

If I'm getting clearer Looking in the mirror Throw em in I can feel the understanding creeping in Throw em in I'm only getting nearer to my only fear of the height of night My night I sometimes lies roaming looking in the mirror Will it make it clearer if I am falling or flying? What's a lifetime first A root brain what's a life?

[D]

A crack of bone a body.

[E]

A body wanders, reaches in Knows your lover, knows your kin that's recognition. Even still I know you make it through a lie. I'll provide you with a place to grow and thrive I will celebrate your heartbeat at my window.

[A]

Oh.

[D]

Hold me Down. Hold me tight I do not want to wait. Or leave my rest.

[B]

Stay.

[D]

Hold me down. Do not want to wait. May I celebrate each moment at your window. Jam. Let us celebrate the morning of the window. Let us celebrate the morning of the window. Let us celebrate the morning out the window.

[A]

That was awesome. That was Justin Hitz. Jade Hitz and Kenita Miller Hicks, the Hot Plates. They're performing as part of the under the Radar festival now through January 25th. Their show is called Dream Feed. What are you playing, Justin?

[B]

This is a little auto harp.

[A]

When did music first come into your life, Justin?

[B]

Oh, gosh, it's hard to say. I mean, my mom actually taught us well, played the autoharp for us.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

So this instrument was kind of instrumental in the building of Dream Feed, actually. But, yeah, I actually can't remember when music became a thing in my life. It just has always been there. We used music, Jade and I. And Kenita was in a very musical household, too. But singing especially was just a way that we communicated with each other, and it was very normalized. And my mom was always singing. She made instruments. Yeah, just. It's always been there.

[A]

What was your mother's musical influence on you, Jade?

[F]

Huge. I still hear her voice in my voice every day.

[A]

That's lovely.

[F]

She introduced us to so many different genres of music. She was a big lover of jazz, but also reached out and did a lot of different sounds, which I really do think become and have solidified as a heartbeat in the hot plates.

[A]

All right, Kenita, you married into the family, but you came from a musical family yourself, though, right?

[C]

I would say, you know, somewhat musical. They didn't have any, you know, bands that they sang in together. But my dad is very proud of the marching band. Southern University is very proud of that. And I think it's more like in secret. My mom sings. I would always hear her singing in the morning. She has the most beautiful voice, the most beautiful vibrato, but it's nothing that she ever shared as far as performance. It was more just for herself internally. So I think that's where I get a bit of my influence from. Yeah.

[A]

How did the Hot Plates. When did that start, Justin?

[B]

Okay, so I want to say about 11 years ago now. We had been, I guess, curious about what it would mean to cover some music that was made popular by Odetta. And at the time, we ended up all landing in the same apartment. So we lived together at that time. And so it was easy for us to get together and jam or just, like, meet in The Living Room and Jam Out. And I can't even remember what got us so focused on Odetta music, but I think it was a combination of that interest and that interest being kind of titillated, I guess, and then a lot of events that were happening in the world that got us to really think through that catalog as a way to talk about things that were happening. And so we. A friend of ours, Kaneza Shaw, a terrific director and producer. Yeah, amazing. She. I don't know, we did a pop up performance somewhere and she was like, have you guys ever thought about doing a project based on Odetta? And we were like, no, but we'd like to. So she threw an event together at Bowery Arts and Science, and we did our first kind of performance of Odetta music. And we came close to calling the project the Odetta Project, but we thought that might be a little limiting for what we saw ahead for ourselves. So we went with the Hot Plates, which is a little bit of a riff on what it means to be in New York and to find what you need both creatively and spiritually with kind of a mixed bag of things that you have at your disposal. And I used to be a chef, so it's like a little bit of a corny rich trying to offer some sustenance.

[A]

Yes. Jade, when you perform, do you improvise when you perform?

[F]

Yes. That's a big part of performance for me. I enjoy that a lot. Being in the experimental side of things is not only fun, but we get to try different sounds all the time.

[A]

Well, Kenita, you're an actor and you have to hit cues. You're used to having sort of a limited space. You have to work. You try to sometimes. How is it different with the Hot Plates?

[C]

Well, I think in that. In the improvisation, the spontaneity and it's just the essence of us. Whereas I feel like in theater, a lot of times you have to interpret in a different way that is outside of yourself. Not outside of yourself, but that you might have to isolate a part of yourself to become somebody else. Or it's just a different balancing game. Whereas this is my family. So I just don't feel as many boundaries or, you know. Yeah, I would say that's a big difference.

[A]

We're going to hear another song from the Hot Plates. It's going to be part of your dream feed. What are we going to hear next?

[B]

This is a song that's very dear to us, written by a friend of ours named Dawn Meredith Smith. She's in San Francisco Right now. Hey, Dawn. This song is called Mustard Anthem.

[D]

And we wake these mornings with no need for ambition we're watching shipmates Smoking menthol cigarettes and all we can afford Crazed a raisin bread Shopping at the price mark it's the subway everywhere We've had it bad so this is pretty.

[A]

Good.

[D]

We've had it bad so this is pretty good We've had it bad and I always wondered Just how will we make it? Will I pour hearts in the city Waves are breaking Cross the path of the town. And may we be dreamers Thinkers while still thinkers while still dancers Will true believer study Thinking of some answer by the faith of a mustard See, yeah. The faith of a mustard seed and I always wonder Just how will we make it? Will I pour hearts in the steady ways of breaking Cross the clouds of the town.

[A]

Time.

[D]

And I always wonder Just how will we make it? Will I pour our sand the steady waves are breaking Cross the path. Here.

[A]

That's the hot place. They'll be performing Dreamfeed as part of the under the radar festival through January 25th at the Hear Arts Center. Justin, how would you describe Dreamfeed?

[B]

I think Dreamfeed is sort of a collection of feelings that we've had in relationship to our kind of investigation of the phenomenon of dreaming and both dreaming while you're awake, Dreaming while you're asleep. We get into a little bit of generational dreaming and what it means to carry on a dream, perhaps of your ancestors or perhaps of someone not related to you, and what it means to kind of investigate your aspirations. I think that's what it is for me. And I think there's a strong thread of motherhood and. Yeah. Maternity in this piece. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. The program asks the question, can we share the dreams we have in common? Jade, how does the music encourage a kind of shared dreaming?

[F]

Wow. Well, a lot of the songs are kind of like adult lullabies, so I think that many of us will be able to relate. It's lullabies for our adult humans who have been through some things.

[A]

Yeah. How do you think we can share dreams?

[C]

Just share them, you know, be courageous enough to share them. I say that because oftentimes I feel like there's such symbolism and you may not understand what they are. And so it can be a little bit vulnerable in a way, But I think that's something that we're finding in this, is just how even how unpredictable dreaming can be. There's so much likeness in it. So hopefully, like, you know, in the sharing, you're Also sharing a thread of your humanity that another human can identify with.

[A]

Justin, when someone comes to see your show Dreamfeed, what state of mind should they be in? Should they just be open minded? Should they be ready for sleep? What should they be thinking about?

[B]

I would say they should be open minded only because I am pretty certain that even from the first note that we sing, you're not gonna be able to predict that that's even what's happening. I think it's a pretty mysterious world when you first walk in. And so it kind of looks like anything could happen, but everything feels like a surprise. And I think everything is kind of a reveal. The reveal of the voice, the reveal of objects, the reveal of thoughts and ideas, and of. Yeah, the kind of iconography of the dream world. Yeah.

[A]

That is a teaser if I've ever heard one. The Hot plates. They'll be performing their show Dream feed at the Here Art center until January 25th. Would you take us out with one song?

[B]

Sure. This is called Rest Stop.

[E]

Shoes can be so tough on those feet of yours. So bind and breaking your head up. Honey, come.

[B]

Here.

[E]

I make a mean cup of stuff you like a tub of water I'm boiling for your needs. So when you get off again. You can be here. I would like for company and in return now let you be.

[D]

Shoes so tough on your feet. Them shoes so tough on your feet so bound to break you up.

[E]

I, I offer this open door but.

[D]

I could step away so tell me on your feet. Them shoes so tough on your feet.

[E]

Just to clear the space. You probably want what I'm needing. Yeah, I'm the same yeah, I would want to sleep if I were you too. Cause you wa. Touches so come on, Come on.

[A]

Hello.

[C]

How.

[E]

Did you spend your time? I could stand and wait just to hear you say oh figure you might not want to speak. You probably wanna be sleeping. I don't blame you. I would wanna stop.

[D]

Sa.

[E]

Honey.

[B]

Honey.

[D]

Shoes so tough on your feet. Them shoes so tough on your feet so so binding to break you up. Shoes so tough on your feet. Them shoes so tough on your feet so binding they break you up. Shoes so tough on your feet. Them shoes so tough on your feet.

[A]

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