Category Archives: Interviews

A Conversation with Debbie Lan of Grenadilla

As you’re no doubt aware if you’ve been visiting Dadnabbit for any length of time, I’m a huge fan of Dean Jones and Dog on Fleas — but since I’m something of a late convert to their music, it wasn’t until late last year that I discovered the band’s ranks once included Debbie Lan, whose dulcet tones now front the Capetown rhythms of kindie’s first kwela-based group, Grenadilla.

What’s kwela, you ask? Well, if you’ve ever listened to Paul Simon’s Graceland, you’ve got something like an idea — it’s South African music, full of memorable melodies, joyous harmonies, and the sunny sound of the pennywhistle. I haven’t been able to stop listening to Grenadilla’s debut for months (as I told Debbie during our chat, the only thing I don’t like about her music is that there isn’t more of it), and I thought it was high time we talked. If you haven’t heard Grenadilla yet, you’re in for a treat; visit their site for samples from the album, a link to a live NPR performance, and more.

Grenadilla’s album never leaves heavy rotation in my house, and I don’t think enough people have listened to it. Let’s talk about what you’re doing with the group.

These are songs that were just…in my head for awhile. They just sort of popped out at the right time, I guess. I don’t really know how else to describe it. I mean, I always wanted to have something where I was singing with a group of women, and after I left Dog on Fleas, it seemed like a natural progression. Continue reading →

A Conversation with Recess Monkey

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In the kindie world, there are few events more momentous than a new Recess Monkey record. The Seattle-based trio is set to return on June 21 with Flying!, a 14-song set that, per Monkey custom, follows a loose concept. This time around, the band was inspired by superheroes, which is fitting, seeing as how these stars of the junior set moonlight as teachers when they aren’t plugging into amps. (It’s like they have secret identities or something!)

If you don’t think the world needs more songs about Superman, not to worry — Flying! is about real-life heroism, the kind we see in our own families (“Grandmom’s House”), our friends (“Sidekick”), and even ourselves (“Bravest Kid in the World”). More importantly, the music is every bit as vibrant and joyously eclectic as fans have come to expect — and the band invited a few famous friends along for the ride, too.

To celebrate the new record, we lined up an interview with a pair of Monkeys: Jack Forman (bass, keys, vocals) and Drew Holloway (vocals, guitars, keys). Here’s what we discussed:

So let’s talk about the new album! The world is waiting with bated breath to hear new music from Recess Monkey.

Jack: And we’re waiting for them to hear it! Especially my wife, because there are several thousand copies in my basement. We can’t do laundry. [Laughter] It’s good that we seem to have some listeners, because otherwise, the inventory would start to take up some serious square footage. We still have CDs left over from our first band, and that was ten years ago.

You guys are impressively prolific. Was there any overlap between Flying! and your last album, The Final Funktier? And how did you settle on the superhero theme for this set?

Jack: Thematic thinking is something we learned teaching at the elementary school where we all met several years ago — every year, there’s a new curricular theme, and every level literally rewrites their curricula based on that theme, and each class looks drastically different than it did the year before. Continue reading →

A Conversation with Heidi Swedberg

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The kindie scene is full of artists who don’t get the kind of recognition they deserve, but of all the names I frequently share with parents looking for good family music, Heidi Swedberg’s is the one that most often receives a quizzically raised eyebrow in response. And the thing is, you may not think you know who she is, but you do — at least, if you were one of the millions of people who watched Seinfeld during George’s doomed courtship with his frequently exasperated fiancee Susan, who famously expired after licking poisoned envelope glue. Susan was Heidi.

These days, Heidi is doing something completely different: taking her ukulele (a whole bunch of ukuleles, really) on the road for a series of teaching clinics where she shows people just how easy it is to start making music of their own. Heidi’s debut CD, Play!, has been a favorite in our house for months, and with Heidi about to play Kindiefest — and spread some of her ukulele magic with a Haitian orphanage — we decided now would be the perfect time to catch up.

All the artists I talk to have had some sort of journey to the kindie world, but it seems like yours was more interesting — and unexpected — than most. Let’s start by talking about how you got here.

Yeah, you know, I grew up with music in my life. Everyone in my family was musical, and I have one sister who is a musician. We all sang together all the time — in the car, everywhere. I think that’s part of how you keep four girls busy without spending any money. [Laughter] It sort of organized the din, I suppose. So we all grew up making music, and since we lived in Hawaii, we all had ukuleles — but they were just kind of around. I think I learned five chords, and it was part of the thing, but I was really interested in acting, and that was the direction I took until after my kids were born. Then I started having fun and playing again.

This is what I love about kids’ music and teaching — I teach a lot of early childhood classes for music — which is that when we reach adulthood, we tend to leave music behind. You’re in band or choir when you’re younger, but then you go out into the “real world,” and you leave performing to the professionals. You don’t make your own anymore. Until you have a kid, and then it’s all okay again, and the fact that you don’t have a great voice doesn’t matter. A window opens up, and it opened up for me in such a way that…I never felt like I have a beautiful voice, and I don’t. I have an acceptable voice, but it isn’t so good that people feel like they can’t sing with me. It’s accessible. Continue reading →