Interview: Barry Louis Polisar

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Barry Louis Polisar is simultaneously children's music best kept secret and one of the most visible (or at least audible) artist for the mainstream. A secret in that you don't necessarily hear a lot about him within the kids music world compared to other, more active artists, but at the same time, placement of "All I Want Is You" in the movie Juno and in a new Honda ad have given Polisar a reach into popular culture that exceeds just about any independent family musician. In the interview below, Polisar talks at length about his influences, his views on the current kids music scene and his role in it, and where his creative energies are now. What are your musical memories from childhood? My main influences were Johnny Cash and Alvin and the Chipmunks. I have a recording on my website of me singing Cash's "Ring of Fire" when I was about seven years old and it was always a favorite song. Alvin and the Chipmunks certainly gave voice to the naughty, rebellious side of childhood back in the late fifties -- and the very first flier advertising my songs included the line "picking up where Alvin and the Chipmunks left off." I also liked the witty lyrics and humor in Roger Miller's songs which were popular in the early sixties and another favorite was the Australian singer Rolf Harris who had a hit with "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport." To this day I can sing every line of every song from his album and many of those songs would be considered wildly inappropriate now by some parents. I've read you first started writing songs at school, but when did you seriously begin to write music for kids? I began my career while I was in college. I was 21 years old in 1975 -- not too far removed from being a kid myself. I went to the University of Maryland and had planned on being a teacher. I had bought a guitar and was teaching myself how to play when a teacher saw me with it, and asked if I would entertain the kids at the school where she was teaching. It was at that school that I overheard another teacher yelling at her students, copied down her tirade and wrote my song "I've Got a Teacher, She's So Mean." Because I was planning on being a teacher myself, word spread that I had written this song and the next thing I knew teachers from other schools were calling me asking me to sing that song in their schools. I ended up putting myself through college singing in the schools and after a year of concerts at schools and libraries, I had made enough to finance my first album. So even though I was still in college, I was writing and performing all the time. Sesame Street had heard about my songs -- by then I had recorded a second album -- and they called me to New York to talk about writing songs for a project they were working on; Big Bird recorded my song "I've Got A Dog and My Dog's Name is Cat." About how many songs have you written/published, anyway?

Interview: Brian Vander Ark & Donny Brown (The Verve Pipe)

The Verve Pipe made their name the first time riding the wave of alternative rock in the early-to-mid 1990s. Now they are making their name as enthusiastic performers of music for families. At the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival I chatted with guitarist Brian Vander Ark and drummer Donny Brown (that's them at top middle and top left), the two guys that have been in the band since the very beginning, talking station wagon music, upcoming plans, and differences between name-brand and generic cereal. What are your earliest musical memories growing up? Brian: Back seat of a station wagon with five kids, two parents, and Neil Diamond's "Song Sung Blue." When that song came on, it was the first time I paid attention to melody and singing along. It was... 1971? It's a great song... It is a great song. And you? Donny: I remember being in the car... I come from a family with seven kids. So we'd be in the station wagon where the last seat faced out toward the window. They wouldn't allow that now. And my ear was right next to the speaker on the right-hand side. And I remember "See You in September" from the Happenings... do you know that tune? I don't, actually. [Sings a bit of the song.]. It's a very much a Four Seasons ripoff. I can hear that. It's exactly like the Four Seasons without Frankie Valli, but from a band called the Happenings. So you had a big career in the '90s and into the 21st century... You wrote a kids song for a compilation - was that the first attempt you made at writing songs for families, or had you written songs even if they were for your own... Brian: No, that was it... What was it about that song that made you think you'd want to do more of this?

Interview: Jack Forman & Daron Henry (Recess Monkey)

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If it's spring, it must be the runup to a new Recess Monkey album. Like clockwork, the Seattle trio turns out a new album each year, and on June 21st their latest album, FLYING!, hits the shelves (or servers, if you're a digital family). I had a chance to chat with bassist Jack Forman and drummer Daron Henry recently about a whole host of Recess Monkey-related stuff, including why a superhero-themed album, bringing in a producer, and Mayor Monkey's continued empire-building. Zooglobble: You have a ton of different things going on -- do you have more ideas than time to implement them? Jack Forman: Definitely. In the past year or so, we've had to prioritize. We'll still do anything, but we're OK turning down the $200 gig. Daron Henry: We've met a lot of others who've inspired us. We've gotten a creative spark that we didn't have a year ago. Jack: In business, they call it scope creep. So what is your mission? Jack: Hm. We haven't written it out, but it's definitely kid-centric. We're family-focused, but the energy comes from the kids in the audience or class. A 6- or 7-year-old hears a knock-knock joke for the first time, that's what we're about. We've written jingles, like for cellphones. but it has nothing to do with the band. Daron: I believe in the kid focus, in being joyous. Life is hard, but there's joy too. We hope kids aren't passive consumers all the time, but can also create. The best part is when a kid tells us they're taking drum lessons or brings a uke to a show. That's awesome to me. Jack: We're gonna work today on a video for "Sidekick" featuring Mayor Monkey in a Barbie Corvette. The DIY thing is key to what we do even with pro tools.

Interview: Elizabeth Mitchell

I suppose the fact that it's taken me more than six months to post an interview with Elizabeth Mitchell is an indication of just how much is going on in the family music world. Luckily, like Mitchell's music, most of the information herein is timeless. I conducted this interview backstage at the 2010 ACL Festival, where Mitchell performed with her band (including her husband, Daniel Littleton, and daughter Storey). Backstage, where we were both waiting for Frances England to perform, and over the happy music-making noises of kids at the drum circle, Mitchell and I chatted about early musical memories (think classic rock, not nursery rhymes), the jadedness of adult rock show audiences, and how she chooses which songs to sing. Also, she gives us a sneak peek into a couple of her forthcoming albums. Zooglobble: What are your earliest musical memories? Elizabeth Mitchell: I guess singing to myself a lot. To myself, by myself, along with the clock radio, or not. Did you make up songs? I think I did, I think I was just always singing. We listened to a lot of music in my home -- there wasn't a lot of playing music. I studied piano, but nobody really played. It was the '70s, so my mom loved Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Carole King. And then there were also great singers like Ella Fitzgerald -- that's my mom's favorite singer, so we listened to her a lot. And my parents both also loved classic Broadway musicals such as My Fair Lady and West Side Story, so we listened to that. And I would sing along with all of it. Even A Chorus Line, which has some very questionable lyrics in those songs, and I would sing along having no idea what I was singing along with. Also, the Allman Brothers' "Ramblin' Man." I loved that song. It was one of my favorite songs as kid. I had no idea what a "ramblin' man" was, though when I think about it, looking back, I can remember the first time I was in a motel room, by a highway, and I heard the sounds of cars and trucks going by at night. So I think there was something about "Ramblin' Man" that was resonating with me even though I had no idea what the song was about. It's a great melodic line, though. It's great. It's a great song. I love the Allman Brothers. We actually did a recording of the Allman Brothers song "Blue Sky" recently. I'm a sucker for '70s classic rock, I love classic rock.

Interview: Sherry Rich Plant (The Mudcakes)

It can be hard to see half a world away, but there's an entire kids music scene in Australia apart from the Wiggles. It's small, but it's kicking, and trying to be heard. If there's a ringleader to the movement, it's probably Sherry Rich Plant, half of The Mudcakes. I've always enjoyed the Mudcakes' music, even from afar, and wanted to get Plant's view on kids music down under. Read on to hear Plant talk about her star-studded high school band, pirate TV, taking matters into her own hands, and other Australian music recommendations. Zooglobble: What are your musical memories growing up? Sherry Rich Plant: I grew up on an Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. My mother Noelene Rich was a country folk singer in the 60's who toured and appeared on TV variety shows and clubs ... with the Bee Gees when they were first starting out! She was also a Girl Guide [Girl Scout] leader in charge of many large campfire singalongs and a guitar/ukulele teacher. So my brothers and I were surrounded by music whether we liked it or not! I started singing with my Mum onstage when I was 7 but I felt very shy and didn't like it much. Then when I hit my early teens my brother and I decided it was cool to play, so we learnt bass and guitar and started a high school band - which funnily enough also included Keith Urban! What made you want to first start making music for families? When my son Ramsay was born we were living in Nashville and I was working as a songwriter for BMG. Rick was a pro guitarist touring and doing studio work. With a new baby I lost the brain space to write anything but the little ditties that I made up to sing to him. I wrote the song "We're Going to Playschool" to help Ramsay get over his anxiety about going to childcare. Folks liked it and Rick and I decided to record some others for posterity. Before we knew it we had a whole album [Songs For Little Monkeys] and The Mudcakes were hatched. It was never a conscious decision to start making family music, but more like a natural shift in what I was writing about. I've always thought that the best art follows life. What sound (or band) did you have in your head when you started making family music? Has that sound in your head changed at all over time?

Interview: Rafael Atijas (Loog Guitars)

I'd stumbled across the Loog Guitar on Kickstarter within a day or two of its project being introduced on the site. Within another couple days after that, the project -- a three-string guitar with interchangeable parts that could be assembled with kids -- had already met its funding goal. And why not? The combination of a kid- (not to mention adult-)friendly design and sustainable production was, unsurprisingly, a big hit. At this point, two weeks before its funding deadline, it's already reached more than $52,000 in pledges, 3 1/2 times its funding goal. Even musician nerds (and I mean that in the best way) like Chris Ballew expressed interest in the project. The creator of the Loog, Rafael Atijas, answered a few questions about inspirations for the guitar, direct and indirect, why someone might one instead of a ukulele, and the source of its curious name. Zooglobble: What are your musical memories growing up? Rafael Atijas: I remember when I was 12 and I decided I wanted to be in a band. But I had no idea how to play guitar and this is what i thought: "I'm too old (:-))... it will take me forever to learn how to play guitar... I'd better pick up the bass, since it has less strings and should be easier/faster to learn." I guess that was really the beginning of Loog Guitars.