Interview: Nerissa Nields (The Nields)

The Massachusetts-based sisters Nerissa and Katryna Nields, the driving force behind the band named after the them, have been making music for a living for about two decades now, but have been singing for most of their lives. The centrality of music to their lives growing up is obvious on their two fine albums for families, All Together Singing in the Kitchen and Rock All Day Rock All Night. They also lead HooteNanny, a music class for preschoolers and their parents and have just released their first DVD, Organic Farm.

Nerissa answered a few questions in the not-too-distant past about some of her musical memories, the good and bad parts about recording music with your relatives, and suggestions for raising a musical household...

Zooglobble: I realize you've discussed this a little more than most folks (since you did an entire album with your father), but what are your musical memories growing up?
Nerissa Nields: SO many wonderful memories, but I'll share this one. I was sick with the chicken pox, and it was the worst day of the itching, fever, etc. I was seven years old, lying in bed, moaning. My father came in with his guitar to cheer me up and started playing "The Streets of Laredo," which is a very sad song and involves a dying cowboy. When he got to the end of it, I moaned, "No! That's too sad!" So he said, "OK. How's this?" and made up these words on the spot:
I can see by your outfit that you are a cowboy
You can see by my outfit that I'm a cowboy too
You can see by our outfits that we are both cowboys
Get yourself an outfit and be a cowboy too!

When did you decide you wanted to become a musician?
When I was seven years old I learned "I Know A Heartache When I See One" off the AM Country radio station my parents listened to, and my mother was so impressed with my singing that she commented on it. I decided then and there to be a singer.

What are the good parts about recording music with family members? What are the not-so-good parts?

The good parts: you're able to be honest with each other and say, "You can do that better."
The bad parts: to get told by bandmates, "you can do it better" even when you don't think you can!

What is your favorite thing about doing HooteNanny?
Watching kids and parents sing together, cuddle together, and generally bond around music

If you could only do one or the other, would you rather making music in a HooteNanny class or playing for a big crowd with the full band?
I can't answer this. They're completely different experiences, like apples and oranges. Both are wonderful.

Was there anything in particular you were trying to convey with the new DVD (e.g., were you trying to capture a live show)?
I wanted kids to see what it looks like to make music. As a child, I loved LPs, but I really wanted to see "how are they doing that?" With a DVD, the kids get to see all the different instruments being played.

What songs do you go back to over and over singing with your own family?
"Over the Rainbow" and "Sidewalks of New York." Also, inexplicably, "Six Yellow Chicks" and "Time to Take a Bath" from HooteNanny.

What's one suggestion you have for keeping a musical household (besides the obvious, like "singing a lot")?
Have easy percussion instruments and small hand drums at the ready for kids to play with; we have our toy/playroom in the same room as our music room, so those concepts are intertwined. Music is play and play is music.

Besides the DVD, what else is on your horizon?
A new book with a publication date of Fall 2011 called All Together Singing in the Kitchen: The Musical Family on Trumpeter Press (Shambhala). Also, a new "grown up" CD If Not For This (much of the material is about motherhood!)

Photo credit: Jeff Wasilko

Interview: Key Wilde (Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke)

For being such a big fan of Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke, I'm a bit ashamed to say that I just unearthed this interview I did with Key Wilde a few months back. I could've sworn I published this just after the release of the excellent debut record Rise and Shine. Man, it's been a hectic three months. (In related news, apparently the Saints won the Super Bowl?)

Oh, well, better late than never in that the interview below gives you, dear reader, more info on the past, present, and future of one half of one of my favorite kids music bands.

Zooglobble: What are your earliest musical memories?
Key Wilde: We were always singing together as a family. Constantly. We used to drive from Texas to North Carolina every summer and I remember all of us singing in the car the entire way. My dad and his two brothers sang barbershop harmonies together and as a little kid I was always trying to find a part and sing along with them. They knew hundreds of songs – bawdy college tunes, wacky folk songs, obscure standards – songs that made you laugh. It was always a joy to sing them over and over again and I still remember them all. We have a large extended family and to this day every family gathering culminates in a big songfest – a wonderful tradition I’m happy to pass along to my own kids.

My dad played piano and insisted that the kids take formal lessons. We all rebelled at the time but are now grateful for the experience.

How did you get into being an illustrator for a living?
I studied fine arts – painting – at Parsons in New York and when I graduated I really didn’t want to do any commercial illustration at all. I found a great loft in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) a few years before the massive migration and undertook all sorts of ridiculous part time work in order to make the rent and carve out time for painting. I never promoted myself as an illustrator but eagerly accepted any assignments that came my way. Over the years my “survival” work has evolved from teaching, bartending and running a muffin store among other things to art direction, design and illustration – all things that I really love doing. And I’ve continued to develop as a “fine artist” on the side which has always been a deep-rooted goal. And of course the music has always been a constant distraction.

How did you meet and start making music with Mr. Clarke?
I responded to an ad Clarke had placed in the Village Voice. I think it was around ’91. He had played in a few punk bands but was looking to form some sort of acoustic folk act. At the time I was trying to form or join a bluegrass band. As a teenager I was heavily influenced by The Ramones, Clash, Sex Pistols so the punk credentials caught my interest. Clarke had grown up in England and France. I had spent a year at Durham University in England and another year at Parsons in Paris so we shared that common ground. We immediately hit it off and started writing songs and performing together. We were both pretty cynical about the music business and shared a Do-It-Yourself ethic and approach. Early on someone described us as “Syd Barrett meets Hank Williams” and I thought “you know that’s really not such a bad thing”.

What made you decide to record a kids' album?
I started really focusing on kid’s music after my daughter was born in 1997. We moved to Jersey City when she was 2 and joined a cooperative preschool there. It was a true cooperative – always a parent assigned to help in the classroom, we were all involved in planting and maintaining the gardens, I designed and painted the signs – lots of involvement. Whenever I had my in-class parent duty I brought along a guitar and sang songs for the kids. I started out with the traditional kid classics but soon realized they responded more to my own quirky original tunes often improvised on the spot. My daughter and I were always making up songs together so before long I had a fair amount of original material. Being a parent I wanted to make a record that adults would also enjoy – there was quite a bit of kids music out there that I didn’t particularly care for.

What came first -- the illustrations or the songs?
In most cases the song - or an idea for a song - came first but the visual interpretations appear right away. Many of our songs feature specific characters and as soon as we begin creating a character in song I am thinking about what it will look like and often have several pages of drawings before the song is resolved. ‘One Fat Frog” started
out as a picture book and I had the entire book sketched out and a few color pages finished before we ever recorded the song. Several years ago I created an alphabet in which animals form the letters. I love the illustrations but there are so many alphabet books out there I didn’t think it was enough on its own. Recently we wrote and recorded a song based on the illustrations and I think it will make a fantastic animation.

What is easier for you, drawing or writing songs?
Well, after years of practice both come naturally to me but I have to admit that both require a fair amount of hard work and focused concentration. I am always drawing every day but songs tend to pop up unexpectedly and sometimes evolve slowly over time. With the songs I have a great collaborator in Mr Clarke and we can always bounce ideas off each other.

What do you envision doing with your live show?
Ultimately I would like to have projected visual elements for every song but I don’t want it to become a slick hi-tech visual overload. I want the audience to always be aware that the band onstage is playing live music in the same room with them. We would like to create a compelling theatrical experience that includes the audience. Stage
dance contests. Include them in comedy routines. Get them to move around and have fun.

What have you learned about playing for kids thus far?
A performer should always engage and respond to the audience but you have to work particularly hard at that with kids. They have short attention spans. However, I don’t believe it should be a barrage of stimulation like the cartoons that some kids watch these days. You can’t just get up there and deliver a tight, polished show and expect kids to follow it. You have to be flexible and spontaneous and above all funny. Make them laugh. Surprise them. Make them feel like they are part of the show.

What's next for you?
I’m working on animations for several of the songs on Rise and Shine and for a couple of songs that will appear on our next album. I am busy creating the illustrations and putting together storyboards – ultimately it takes a great deal of time – and money – but you just have to keep slowly moving forward. And – like every other kids performer you are likely to meet – we are developing an animated TV series. And I always have a few picture books in the works. I would love to create a really great picture book - without music – that parents and kids can experience and enjoy together. I won’t tell you how many years I’ve been working on this. I also won’t tell you how many times my 3 year-old son and I have read “Go Dog Go!” (with all the required embellishments) together in the past year.

Interview: Jim Cosgrove (Mr. Stinky Feet) on Crowdfunding

A couple days ago, Jim "Mr. Stinky Feet" Cosgrove sent out his latest newsletter with a most interesting proposition -- please help fund his next CD:

As some of you may know, the landscape of the music industry has changed dramatically over the past five years. As the giant labels have faltered or collapsed with the rapid decline of retail album sales, independent artists have emerged as the leaders of the changing tide. Where some see a shriveled industry on life support, I see opportunity and challenge. And I love challenges.

So, I'm asking you to join me as we embark on an adventure into new territory. I have a goal of raising enough money to pay for outstanding musicians, promotion, production, and a Grammy-nominated producer for my new record. Please help me make this dream a reality. You've already been a big part of my success, so please consider taking part in the production of this project. You'd buy the new CD anyway, right? So, consider this a pre-purchase plan.

His specific funding levels start at $20 (get an autographed copy of the album), move up to $50 (autographed CD, t-shirt, and bonus CD), and go up from there -- my favorite title is the $150 "Now You're Just Showing Off". (Go here for the complete list and/or to make a contribution.)

While this sort of "crowdfunding" has been around for awhile (I wasn't the only one for whom Kickstarter came immediately to mind), it's the first time it's been explicitly used in the kids music scene. (The closest Kickstarter project was this successful project which sought funding to make a soundtrack by a tween indie rock band to accompany a tween indie rock novel.)

So when I got the newsletter I immediately shot off some questions to Jim, whose answers I think are pretty much required reading for artists (and probably family music fans in general), regardless of whether or not they want to follow Cosgrove on this particular path.

Zooglobble: Aside from the general upheaval in the music industry, what specifically led you to crowdfund your next CD?
Jim Cosgrove: Challenging times call for creative solutions. So, rather than putting the whole thing on credit, we looked at other models and found that many bands in other genres have been successful in getting their fans directly involved.

I meet parents all the time who thank me for my music and for the fun we bring to families, and they ask me if there is anything they can do to help. Now, I'm calling in those offers. And I really think people want to help and like to help and want to be part of something that is fun and positive.

Is there a particular dollar amount you have in mind?
Our goal is $8,000, which is less than half the cost of the production, promotion, and distribution. If we raise more, great! Regardless of the response, we're going forward with the project.

Is there any particular reason you chose not to use Kickstarter for this project?
Main reason...I'd never heard of Kickstarter until [yesterday]. However, I am aware of similar sites like Pledge Music, and whereas they could potentially bring in new fans, they have limitations. And we wanted to make this a very personal appeal directly to our fans, many of whom we have come to know very well. So we've used our data base and Facebook and Twitter.

Is there a time limit for you to get the money?
Our goal is to raise funds in 60 days. In the first 24 hours, we're off to a great start!

You spent some time having your releases distributed by a major label -- what are the advantages and disadvantages of this new model from your perspective?
Warning: You've opened a can of worms... Indeed, we had a major label experience, and we learned a whole lot about business and life in general. We only feel foolish and a bit embarrassed to have given up so much control and received so little in return, but we are grateful for the lessons (and we made some good friends out of the deal -- so all is well.)

Indie production and distribution is it -- it's where we all need to be. No turning back. And no need to. The major label model is so painfully outdated -- it's never coming back. Quite literally their business is based on a 1950s model: We produce your record, we grease some radio stations with some payola, people hear the music, love it, go down to the corner record store and buy it. That's it. And we all know what's missing in that picture. NO RECORD STORES! Also, the artist in this model gets 12-15% of revenue after their "loan" is paid off. Hmmm... let's see... sell my soul for 15% or maintain integrity and keep 100%. No contest.

We all are trying to figure out how to make a living with the reality of the changing landscape. We are the agents of that change -- don't look to the labels for answers. They're too busy trying to stop their hemorrhaging. Fortunately for us in the family music genre, parents are still buying CDs. How long that will last is the million dollar question. And you and I view a CD differently than a kid. For us, a CD is a form of media that stores information. Now it's easier and cheaper (and more eco-friendly) to get our information (songs, movies, data) directly from the digital source on line. No need for CDs. But for a child, that CD is not just a medium; it's a toy. They want to feel it, look at it, play with it, study it, chew on it, and ultimately listen to it. And you've satisfied all of their learning needs -- visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. As long as they need those toys, we'll still produce them.

I think it's important to add that the best way for most of us to sell records is to perform as often as possible. Barring a TV show deal with Disney (which by no means guarantees anything), we've got to get ourselves in front of live audiences -- even more so than radio audiences. (A great example is some friends of mine who had a #1 song on XM Kids for several weeks in a row and it didn't affect their record sales even a smidge or result in any live bookings.) People want to feel a connection with a human and they will buy the product to retain that connection -- to relive the show! About 90% of our sales are at live shows. For more than a decade, we've been averaging about 230-260 shows a year -- and as I get older, it doesn't get physically easier, but I love what I do.

And don't be afraid to give your music away! We just played a show in Texas that came from a woman who contacted us after becoming a fan when she bid on and won a package of my CDs at a fundraising auction. We donate to nearly every organization that asks -- more than 85 of them last year. You never know into whose hands those CDs will land.

Interview: Michael Rachap (Readeez)

Although there's been an explosion of new kids music available to folks here in the last decade or so, there hasn't necessarily been an explosion of new kids music concepts. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing -- there's a reason why folks have been singing certain songs for a century or more. The concept that kids (and their parents) sometimes might like to listen to songs with the same production values and musical variety as the music their parents listen to but with more kid-appropriate themes is huge, and one that a lot of folks have now internalized. But beyond that, not so much.

Michael Rachap's Readeez project, however, is a new kids music idea -- it applies that big concept above (kids music with the music-nutritional value of music for adults) to a visual idea of displaying words in time with music, far more so than any other video that displays words for the young viewer.

Rachap sat down recently and answered a few questions about his life in (and out of) advertising, how he puts his videos together, new Readeez-related projects, and the secret value of kicking a piano bench during lessons.

Zooglobble: What are your earliest musical memories?
Michael Rachap: 1) My dad's stereo, which I recall being about the size of a Hummer. I was, and still am, fascinated with music-making technology. 2) My dad's record collection, an eclectic set featuring lasting influences like the Beatles' "Red" and "Blue" LPs, Elton John's early catalogue, Dylan, Jackson Browne, The Band, and enough non-rock offerings to keep my ears open-minded. 3) The family's Baldwin Acrosonic upright, which I began playing at around age four.

I also remember taking piano lessons as a small boy, and the way my first teacher (the stern but compassionate Emily Reichert) would fiercely kick the bench we were sitting on to drive home the rhythm while I was playing. Intimidating but effective.

What drew you to your first career, advertising? What drew you away?
My first job out of college was as a marketing drone at a giant software company. That took about a year to lose its charm. When I learned that there was this occupation called "copywriter" where you got to come up with cool ideas and draw a regular paycheck, I made a goofy two-minute "Video Résumé" and sent it around to the top ten agencies in the DC area. One of the creative directors I targeted actually liked the thing and hired me. In retrospect, that video was the progenitor of Readeez—a full decade and a half before I started making them for kids.

I knew I wanted to leave advertising when I began to notice that the non-monetary rewards were, at least for me, pretty sparse. At its worst it was starting to feel like I was lying for a living. When I write Readeez I'm saying things that are very close to me, truths I want to express. Which I find very fulfilling.

Was there a particular "Eureka!" moment for you in coming up with the idea for Readeez?
There certainly ought to have been—I do a lot of brainstorming in the bath, which is where, legend has it, the phrase "Eureka!" was coined. But no, there's no single moment I can point to. The Readeez concept evolved over the course of several years, and it's still evolving.

When you come up with an idea for a Readee, is it more commonly a visual or a musical idea?
They run about 80/20 musical to visual. The genesis for "Big In Mind" was visual. I was struck by the image of those huge speakers dwarfing me. "When I Dance" was another one that began visually, for obvious reasons. But Readeez like "Modes of Transportation," "Sandy Beach" and "Tonight And Every Night" come from songs I've written.

Do you prefer writing in 60-second (or so) soundbites, or do you wish your default musical expression was 3 minutes long?
I think you can say a lot in 60 seconds. Now, ten seconds—that's a soundbite. Most Readeez songs meet my criteria for "complete" compositions: They have more than one section, they have motifs that are developed over time, they reach a satisfying conclusion. They're just not as long as most pop songs.

Most of the Readeez songs "want" to be about a minute long. A few have gone over two minutes and I'm pretty sure that "Sky Girl" will end up around three. But with most Readeez songs, the fat has been trimmed. Short intros (or no intro). No third verse. No second bridge (or no bridge at all). No Edward Van Halen.

I'm also in a band, The Omnivores, which gives me an outlet for non-Readeez music stuff.

How long does it take you to produce a Readee from the moment of idea to the moment it's unleashed onto the world?
It varies wildly, from a couple of days to a couple of years. And "years" here mainly refers to the time elapsed between having a song concept and completing the song. I'm not able to rush the songs along. Some of them take a day or less, others, literally years.

Generally speaking, the songs are the real time-consuming part of a Readee—writing them and recording them. Once the song is done, the rest of the Readee-making goes fairly quickly. I suppose I've spent a week or so on the most complex visuals, with the easier ones getting knocked out in one long day.

I'm looking forward to doing more with the visual aspects of Readeez. Some of the cooler effects in, say,
"The Land Of I Don't Know" - there are lots of other techniques like that to explore. It's much more time-consuming than taking Gerry's illustrations and manipulating them (close-up, far shot, move left, pop out), but I think it's worth it and most of all I enjoy doing it—which is my sole motivator for pursuing creative ideas.

What do you see the business future being for kids' music-related visual products such as yours?
People like songs. (Yeah, you can quote me on that.) People also like watching videos. (Ditto.) When the two elements are put together well, the results can be irresistible. Toss in the educational aspect of products like Readeez and I think the future for this medium is blindingly bright. Folks will continue to watch lots of kids' music videos, on sites like yours and YouTube and Vimeo. Maybe they'll even buy a copy to watch on their TV or the back seat of the car.

What's next for you and Readeez?
I'm working on a cool new project that will use a Readee-like approach to teach music. That's moving along quickly—watch for details in early 2010. I'm also working on Readeez Volume Three and the next Songeez collection. And I teach music in Atlanta, at Eclectic Music, where I'm learning quite a bit from my students. Life, as they say, is good.

Interview: Dean Jones (Dog on Fleas)

Dean Jones is a busy man. Member of the great and earthy kids band Dog On Fleas, he's also got a solo career in his own right (witness the excellent lullaby disk Napper's Delight), produces others' disks (the upcoming album from Uncle Rock), and sometimes plays with the Felice Brothers. (He also sometimes plays "John Lemon" to his son's Paul McCartney -- see picture to left.)

In spite of Jones' many obligations, he still had time to answer a few questions about his musical background, what it was like to record his new album Rock Paper Scissors with the Felice Brothers, and his favorite instruments.

Zooglobble: What are your earliest musical memories? What are your memories of learning to play and sing music?
Dean Jones: I come from a pretty musical family. There was always someone playing the piano, and I remember fighting for my chance to make some noise on it. My Mom used to sing to me when I was little, and sometimes now I hear some random song and a memory floods back to me of her singing it to me.

My brother (11 years older) was my biggest musical influence. He played a lot of boogie woogie on the piano, as well as the Beatles, the Band, and that kind of thing. I used to hide in the closet when he got home from school and listen to him play. We listened to a lot of great music around the house too, from the Esso Trinidad Steel Band to Bach to Ella Fitzgerald. My brother took me to see Ella and she kissed me on the cheek!

When did you decide to become a musician?

I think I always wanted to be a musician, but at times I tried not to be. That was impossible. I quit touring for a while back when the clubs were so smoky, and we had a couple of car accidents in the band I was in. But then I realized that there are SO MANY OTHER KINDS OF GIGS AND AUDIENCES!

With Dog on Fleas, did you have a particular musical philosophy you and the band were expressing?
I've had a bunch of bands over the years, a couple of them with John Hughes, the Fleas' bass player/singer. All of these bands have felt similar in their approach to making music. I feel like the philosophy is: here we are in this room, let's create something. The Fleas have changed members over the years, but everyone involved has always been gung ho to try anything. I get inspired to write songs by the people I'm playing with, like the way Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus have drawn on the strengths of their musicians. Also, we are just enthralled by kids!! I think we are mostly interested in the transfer of energy; recieving that joyous kid energy and hopefully giving back something to inspire them and maybe make them dance too.

How did you meet and come to play with the Felice Brothers, and how did the idea of "Rock Paper Scissors" the album come about?
I met the brothers through my friend Peter Buettner a few years ago. He called me up to do some recording with them, and I think we've played on all their records since then. I have such a great time recording with them because they are just looking for something raw and sincere, and they don't care about playing all the right notes. I was driving one day last year, listening to their latest CD and a little light went off in my head. I had some songs that I had been writing that just seemed so right for them to play. And once it came into my head I wrote about 30 more songs!!

Was recording "Rock Paper Scissors" as much a party as it sounds like on disk?
It was pretty darn fun. We did 2 days of recording in their chicken coop/studio. There are 3 doors to the studio, and it was tough to get everybody in the room at the same time, because one or another of them was always disappearing, and then somebody else would go to find them, and... A comedy of errors.

But they were so fun to record with, and willing to try anything. I lost my voice early on the first day, because it was loud and rowdy!!! I had to resing most of it later. I also recorded a bunch of songs for the record with a band called Earmight. We've been playing together for years and years, usually way out jazz improv stuff. We drank expensive wine and ate exotic foods to capture a different feel from the Felice Brothers sessions.

Is the entire Woodstock musical community as supportive as it sounds like the kids music contingent is?
Well, I guess I don't consider myself quite in Woodstock. We are nearby, and somewhat connected, but this whole Hudson Valley is quite a scene. Yeah, I think I could get on the phone, or e-mail right now and get about 50 great musicians to do a parade in my town, just on a whim. There are so many creative people in many mediums who are happy to help other artists realize their visions. There's probably some mean, nasty people too, but who needs 'em?

What is your favorite musical instrument?
Trombone is my favorite to play. But I have so many favorites. I really love the sound of the imzad, a one-stringed fiddle from North Africa, and all its brother and sister instruments.

What's next for you?
I'm finishing recording Uncle Rock's new CD, which is lots of fun, and due early next year. I'm going to record John Hughes' first solo CD. He's such a genius, but this CD is probably not for kids. I am working on some videos for the new CD. I'm writing music for a shadow/multi-media show by the Cave Dogs. (check out my new video for "Isthmus be the Pirate Waltz" by Cave Dog Jim Fossett) And I have an idea to collaborate with some of my writerly friends and a brass band I play with; music with stories, kind of along the lines of Laurie Anderson, or Marvin Pontiac.