Interview: Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

Every time I hear more of Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, the more I'm convinced he's going to be a Big Thing. Of course, he may be already, with the first great kids-hop album Easy set for re-rerelease this summer and appearances at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Festival lined up for later this year. In this interview, you get a sense of both the studied and self-examined approach he's taken to understanding his particular path as well as the positivity and enthusiasm that has taken him pretty far down that path to Big Thing-ness already. Read on for details on how he got to recording music for kids, the occasional difficulty of writing rhymes for kids, and how he knew his daughter Saki was ready for the big time. (Oh, and if you're thinking you've already got Easy and you don't need the re-release, read on...) Zooglobble: What music did you listen to growing up? Secret Agent 23 Skidoo: I remember my first tape, a dubbed copy of Beastie Boys License to Ill. It now blows my mind to go back and listen to that album and get the nostalgia echoes from songs that I listened to as a youth without even slightly understanding them. Now I get all the slang and references, everything. But I still remember trying to figure out what "I fly a fat burger when I'm way out west" meant on a 4th grade field trip. And Brass Monkey sounded like a cartoon character. Nope, not at all! How did you decide being a touring musician was what you wanted to do with your life? I started with the touring part before the musician part. I grew up in a culture-starved small town in Indiana, and blew that popsicle stand real early. By the time I was 18, I had already taken Greyhound and Amtrak everywhere from New Olreans to Cali to Mexico. After that, I spent a while hitchiking, trainhopping and backpacking all across America. My musical side started with a drum I carried with me, and eventually myself and a friend started freestyle rhyming over the beats we made. By the way, that friend is DJ Mr. Strange a.k.a. ADAM STRANGE, the DJ for 23 Skidoo and my rhyming partner for over 13 years. So, we attracted more weirdos and started busking (street performing) which eventually turned into a hip hop/funk band called GFE. As seasoned travelers, it was no question we would take the show on the road, and we began touring before we hardly even had a set put together. Now it's just in the blood, can't wait to take it international! What (besides having a child) made you want to record a kids' album?

Interview: Kathy O'Connell (Kids Corner)

Sometimes the printed page (or screen) isn't enough. I've admired Kathy O'Connell, the host of the Kids Corner radio show at Philadelphia's WXPN for many reasons. She is in essence the dean of kids music radio, having hosted Kids Corner for more than 20 years (and other shows before that). She is also an absolute riot to be around -- meeting her at StinkFest/KindieFest 2009 was definitely a blast. So I was excited when O'Connell agreed to answer a few questions. Read on -- even if you live nowhere near Philly -- and find out how O'Connell got her start in radio, what she looks for in putting together Kids Corner, and her connection to Vampire Weekend (really). Zooglobble: What music did you listen to growing up? Kathy O'Connell: My parents had lots of novelty records, like Spike Jones, Stan Freberg, and Betty Hutton, along with a lot of Sinatra and Dean Martin. When I started buying my own music, I went heavy on the show tunes. The album that had the biggest influence on me growing up was Carol Burnett Remembers How They Stopped the Show. I won talent shows lip-synching her version of “Adelaide’s Lament.” I pretty much had the “novelty” category to myself in the CYO Summer Recreation Talent Shows. Then, the Beatles came, and I never looked back. I was a British Invasion girl all the way, with a soft spot for novelty tunes. When the Beatles and Soupy Sales were on the same Ed Sullivan show, my brains fell out. What radio stations and DJs did you listen to growing up? WABC in New York. Top 40 radio at its best. I had a transistor radio to my ear all the time. The WABC jocks were my first introduction to the possibilities of creative live radio. I think people look upon radio as a conduit to music instead of an art in itself. The WABC jocks were entertainers who happened to play records. A good live radio artist is a like a good jazz musician. They can roll with anything and make it entertaining. And the intimacy of radio leaves such an imprint. I can still sing the theme songs for Scott Muni and “Cousin” Bruce Morrow more than 40 years later. My favorite DJ, then and forever, was Dan Ingram. He did 2-6 pm on WABC. He was the most creative voice on the radio. And when he needed to, when a news story warranted it, he was serious. Dan Ingram had the mix of funny and serious down perfectly. Listening to WABC back then, you felt like you were part of a bigger community. So, it was a big deal when Cousin Brucie’s son Dana John (DJ) was born, and we got swept up in the “Principal of the Year Contest” every year. I even nominated the awful principal we had at St. Hugh’s. We weren’t successful. When did you first realize that you wanted to work in radio? When did you start doing kids radio -- it wasn't exactly planned, was it?

Interview: Tito Uquillas (The Hipwaders)

Guitarist and songwriter Tito Uquillas of the Bay Area band The Hipwaders has always struck me as almost as much a fan of great kids music and music in general as a creator of great kids music. Indeed, in an unrelated conversation about traveling around the country to shows such as Kidzapalooza and the Sirius-XM Studios, Uquillas said "We just need our costs covered as we don't care about making money. We're in it for the adventure!" Even with that comment, Uquillas has also been a little more upfront than many in the kids music genre about the sometimes challenging economics of being a musician in the 21st century. He recently answered a few questions about his musical background, the economics of his band, and what it's like to have a song of yours accompany a show on catfish noodling. Zooglobble: What music did you listen to growing up? Tito Uquillas: I think it's telling that my earliest memory is a musical one of my aunt singing Petula Clark's "Downtown" as she would walk us to the downtown area of the town we lived. My father is from Ecuador and had quite an eclectic record collection. Besides hearing a lot of Ecudaorean music artists, I was exposed to what now would be termed as "world music." He also had an extensive collection of soundtracks. I found the soundtracks extremely interesting and loved hearing the zither of "The Third Man Theme" and the bouzouki of "Zorba the Greek." When I was 8 years old I saw The Beatles' movie Help! on TV and became infatuated with the band. Every few weeks I would buy a Beatles album by saving my milk money and doing odd jobs like polishing my Dad's shoes. As a teenager I was corrupted by Lenny Kayes' Nuggets compilation and my taste in music turned away from mainstream. I loved the high energy raw sounds of music from Stax/Volt soul to punk rock and new wave music. I would buy every Stiff Records and Two-Tone import 45 I could lay my hands on. It didn't matter if I knew the band or not. How hard is it combining your day job (or perhaps it's a night job depending on your shifts) with your Hipwaders work?

Interview: The KC Jiggle Jam

Reminder: Go here by tonight for a chance to win free Jiggle Jam stuff -- you don't have to live anywhere near KC to enjoy the shirt, hat, and compilation CD! I was totally impressed with the lineup for the 2009 KC Jiggle Jam, to be held this upcoming Memorial Day weekend. When I saw Jeni and Jim Cosgrove at KindieFest 2009 in Brooklyn a couple weeks ago, having as much fun if not more so than the kids on hand, I had some small idea of the enthusiasm and passion the two of them bring toward putting together a most excellent kids music festival. But I also wanted to get a sense of just how much work and planning putting on an event like takes. So I decided to ask them (in the midst of their final preparations). Jeni and Jim, along with Keli Wenzel, answered a few questions about Jiggle Jam's past, present, and future... Zooglobble What was the genesis of the Jiggle Jam? Jeni Cosgrove: Jiggle Jam Family Music Festival is a non-profit, 501c3 agency committed to gathering generations and communities together to experience musical performances and educational activities in a positive atmosphere that the entire family can enjoy. The idea of Jiggle Jam began with three people who shared the same vision, Jim and Jeni Cosgrove and Keli O'Neill Wenzel. Jim has been leading the children's music scene in Kansas City for more than a decade. Jeni Cosgrove has been there right beside him as a wife, booking agent, tour manager, and event planner. Jeni had successfully organized five smaller children's music festivals prior to Jiggle Jam. Keli Wenzel works under the umbrella of O'Neill Communications, a public relations, marketing and event management firm. Keli is also the Executive Director of the highly successful Kansas City Irish Fest -- the city's biggest and most awesome festival. After casually discussing a family music fest for several years, the three of us finally sat down together one day in September 2007, and decided to make it a reality. Crown Center, a shopping, dining, and hotel complex adjacent to the headquarters for Hallmark Cards, gave us the push we needed. They too wanted to see some kind of family festival on their grounds. They knew Keli made it happen with Irish Fest, and they knew Jim and I could pull together some of the best acts in children's music. Jim Cosgrove: Jeni and I produced our own music fest -- Family Peace Jamboree -- for three years. It was all local acts performing on a big stage in a local school parking lot. It was successful (about 1,000 people the first year) and a lot of work. Just when we decided we couldn't do it by ourselves anymore, Hallmark/Crown Center approached Keli and us about creating a signature event for them. Crown Center has the perfect festival facilities. Keli knows festivals (and how to squeeze corporate dollars) better than anyone. Jeni and I know family music, and we know what families want and how artists deserved to be treated. It's a winning combination. Jeni: The three of us reached out to more close friends and formed a tight board of directors who pounded the pavement, reached out to the community, and made the details come together. It's a team effort.

Interview: Chris Ballew (Caspar Babypants)

Chris Ballew is probably most familiar to folks of my generation as one of the guys behind the Presidents of the United States of America, who came out of the Pacific Northwest and had a number of alternative rock hits in the mid-'90s. And while the Presidents are still going strong (Ballew answered these questions in the midst of a European tour with the Presidents), he's turning some of his attention to making music for the younger set via Caspar Babypants. If the giddiness of his debut Here I Am! album or his series of YouTube videos hasn't convinced you how excited Ballew is by his efforts in the family music genre, this interview will. Zooglobble: What did you listen to or play instrument-wise growing up? Chris Ballew: I guess I was a bit of a piano wonder kid. I started with a pro teacher when I was 4 and went until I was 14 and discovered the awesome power and majesty of the ELECTRIC GUITAR! Then it all changed focus but I still have the piano in my bones. What artists influenced you as a musician in the Presidents? The Beatles, Boston, Lenny Kravitz, The Stooges, and Weird Al. I wanted to make a Frankenstein’s monster of all those artists and I think I actually did it. So it has the love and peace intent of the Beatles, the arena rock swagger (it's in there!) of Boston, the clean articulate simple production of Lenny Kravitz (the early stuff), the fuzz and scrape of the Stooges, and the oddball lyrics of Weird Al.

Interview: Doug Snyder (The Jellydots)

Finally had the chance to upload (and post) a nice little interview with the genius behind The Jellydots, Doug Snyder. He played a couple sweet shows here in Phoenix a couple weeks back, and I caught him in between sets. We talked about his guitar, work on his upcoming album, and other Jellydot-ian news. (Oh, and Little Boy Blue wandered in occasionally, so apologies for the odd camera angles for some of the interview.)