JC Chasez Opens Up About *NSYNC, His Solo Career and New Frankenstein-Inspired Album in Candid Interview (Exclusive)

• JC Chasez and Jimmy Harry's new musical theater concept album, Playing with Fire, is out now
• The project, inspired by accompanies a script Harry's mother wrote with inspiration from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein
• Chasez opens up to PEOPLE about Playing with Fire, *NSYNC, his solo career and the 20th anniversary of his Schizophrenic album

For most of his career, JC Chasez has been associated with pop music. But as the singer/songwriter has gotten older, his interests have shifted into a perhaps unexpected avenue: musical theater. "I discovered it later in life," he tells PEOPLE.

The Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and producer, 48, teamed up with his longtime collaborator Jimmy Harry for Playing with Fire, a new concept album released Friday, Oct. 25. The project, which accompanies a script Harry's mother wrote with inspiration from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, marks Chasez’s first major musical theater foray.

Chasez is a featured vocalist throughout the 16-track body of work, and its release comes on the heels of the *NSYNC reunion on the Trolls Band Together soundtrack for the group's first song in two decades, "Better Place."

While theater might seem like a stark departure from Chasez's pop roots, he insists there are parallels between both genres. "At the end of the day, when it comes to music in general, everybody's waiting for that lightning bolt, looking for that lightning bolt or working for that lightning bolt," he explains.

"I'm using this horrible metaphor because it's part of the Frankenstein-sphere, but when it hits, you have to react and you have to get the song down — or you're going to miss that opportunity," adds Chasez.

Calling over Zoom from his studio in Los Angeles, the performer opens up to PEOPLE about possibly continuing the *NSYNC reunion, a potential future solo album and the online support he's received in recent years.

What appealed to you about the script for Playing with Fire that Jimmy shared with you?

Well, the original was a piece that his mother [Barbara] wrote called Playing with Fire, and it was a play. I was drawn to the way she framed things [and] made them more accessible to me emotionally. People think of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and there's a lot going on in it, and she found a way to focus on the essence of things. 

Do you have plans to bring this script and album to the stage?

The main plan is to make this musical. The concept album is a byproduct of the larger goal — to make the musical. We have this body of work that's music. We actually have a book/script that we've collaborated on as well. We're going to update it along the way, hopefully in workshops, but the goal is to make it a living, breathing piece on stage.

Fans know you as a pop star and songwriter. What appealed to you about musical theater? Was this always something you were passionate about?

This is my second attempt at a theater project. The reason I want to do this one, I was very, very close to working on Jesus Christ Superstar. That was going to be my first step. And I enjoyed the process so much that it had this feeling of unfinished business when I didn't get to go out and see that piece realized, being a part of it. I ended up making a comedy movie with Topher Grace and Taye Diggs [called Opening Night] about the backstage life in theater, and those were small steps along the journey.

When we were just talking about music and what music meant to us, Jimmy and I, and what we felt would be exciting, it's the bigger picture. When you're writing a pop song, you have three-and-a-half minutes to capture the imagination of people — and that's also true in a musical, by the way. You need a song that connects. And artists make concept albums that are just concept albums, but it excited me to be a part of a play that is about humanity and technology and to put it on a stage with real people when we're also interfacing with things that aren't real people every day. And so the idea of theater got more and more exciting to me. I wanted to really dig my heels in it and work on that connection with humanity through my art as well.

You mentioned you’re working on another musical as well. Can you talk about the story of that one?

My current focus is Playing with Fire. That's where I've gone all in. The other musical that's going on behind the scenes is called The Best of All Possible Worlds. Jimmy actually co-wrote a book with Sarna Lapine, who's been in theater for years and years. We wrote music for that, she told us she was really excited about it, and we were like, "Well, we need a book." She was like, "You guys are already there. You know what you want. Just do it." We said, "Well, why don't we do it together then? If you have the confidence in us, let's do it together." And so she was willing to collaborate with us on the book aspect of it. So, that's something that's happening behind the scenes.

How do you approach writing for musical theater as opposed to pop music? 

Some things are the same, and some things aren't. That part of it is the same with pop music. When you have an idea or a hook or a melody and you just have to get it out, that aspect is the same. I would say the difference with musical theater, at least what I've experienced so far, [is] the real estate is so valuable that when you're writing lyrics in a musical, it has to move the story forward. 

Over the past couple of years, there's been renewed appreciation for you as a vocalist. How's that felt for you?

It's humbling. When you're yourself, you hear yourself every day, and you don't always hear the greatest aspects about [your voice], right? You're just like, "Oh, I'm having a rough day. My voice is whatever." When I'm singing demos, they're challenging because you're writing parts that aren't necessarily for your voice, so you're hearing all your flaws. Like anybody, we have good days and bad days. So the fact that some people have been kind enough to say nice things, it's humbling because, look, I'm not 21 and in my prime. I'm also aware that I'm changing, and my voice is still changing, so I wrestle with it a bit. It's a little scary because, at the same time, when people put you on a pedestal, it's always hard to meet expectations. I focus on just doing my best.

You don't sing on all of the tracks on Playing with Fire, but tell me about a few that you do sing on.

Jimmy and I wrote all of the songs, and then I took on the singing parts for [characters] The Creature and The Young Creature, which is named Adam. My role puts me in the monster, creature vocal space. So the singing isn't always clean and precise and perfect. The goal is to capture the emotion of the character that I'm singing for. The first moment we hear The Creature sing is in a duet called “How Do You Sleep?” It’s a father and a son reconnecting after years of hate for one another, and they're trying to get to the bottom of their issues. Singing that song, it's like a teenager fighting with their dad, and that's the first song we wrote. It is really the kicking-off point for everything. The other song The Creature sings by himself is “You Used to Touch Me” and basically the creature is using this music and this moment to taunt his creator. That was a fun one because, again, just pushing somebody's buttons is a bit of fun when it comes to making drama.

This year is also the 20th anniversary of your debut album Schizophrenic. Do you have any untold stories about the making of that record?

I really enjoyed experimenting with that record. It was an opportunity to break the routine. You get into a rhythm of one thing, but the issue is you don't ever want to become complacent. Working on that album was exciting because I felt like I was pushing myself. And there's some songs on that record that I still enjoy. Some aged well, some didn't. But I think that's with any record. But there's certainly songs on that record that I'm still proud of today.

Have you ever thought about doing another solo record?

I got to tell you, it's hard to see past this kind of movement in my life. I'm just enjoying working with my buddy, Jimmy. I don't want to say anything because, who knows, our ideas could change tomorrow because of all this, but we do have one or two other ideas percolating in the back of our minds. If we have the energy or if we have the right moments that can propel those ideas forward, there could be another [musical] in the works before you know it. We have a book. We want to improve the book, and that's where our focus is right now. Improve the book, get it into workshops, because we don't want to stop at just people hearing it. We want people to see and experience the story because we just believe in it that much.

Your second album The Story of Kate was never released. Have you ever wanted to share it on your own? 

No, because it wasn't a fully realized idea, and it wasn't right yet. I was still working through ideas Some of those are just little work tapes and blurbs, and some of them are songs. But nothing on there is a finished product by any stretch of the imagination, and it didn't represent what I would've wanted it to be in the state that it was. It was a fun thought for a while, but honestly, when some of the stuff got leaked, I actually got more down about it than excited. I just wanted to move on from it.

Do you have any updates on the *NSYNC reunion sparked with "Better Place" last year?

Justin's on tour, and I'm doing this, so at current, there would be nothing past basically us just chatting and checking in with one another. The door is not closed by any means, if that's the question, but there are no concrete plans for anything right now because everyone's got something on their plate at present. That's not to say down the road that it's going to happen or not going to happen. We just don't know yet. But look, the door is open on the discussion. I can say that.

Do you guys have a group chat together?

Oh, yeah.

Does it have a fun name?

It changes, actually. I think Joey [Fatone] changed it recently. I probably shouldn't say [the name] because then people will be able to look at somebody's phone, so I won't.