Misha Angrist: In a recent e-mail to fans, you talked about getting a nice note from Pete Seeger and what a huge influence he was on you. I am wondering if that's something you would have freely admitted, say, ten years ago.
Dan Zanes: Oh, yeah. Nobody would have asked me, but I never had any problem acknowledging that. When I was in the rock world, he was always there somewhere in the recesses of my mind. When I started out, I was listening to Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Ella Jenkins. I used to go to the library in my town and get all those records. We'd go see Pete Seeger in Boston. I remember going to the Seabrook nuclear power plant demonstrations and seeing him there with Jackson Browne. At his shows, he would always get people to sing alongthat was a big part of it. That's all come back to me now that I'm doing kids' music.
Even with the Del Fuegos, I think we tried to carry Pete Seeger's spirit into the rock and roll world; the main idea being to simply "do it yourself." Folk music in the sixties was the "people's music," which I think could also have been said about rock and roll at one time.
I think the lesson of Pete Seeger is something along the lines of "Everyday we have the opportunity to do something useful." And I think that that's right: we have to. What choice do we have? Anyway, Pete raised the bar pretty high.
MA: Was there an epiphany involved in the decision to make children's music or was it more of a gradual realization that this is what you needed to do?
DZ: It was like so many other things for me. I'm clearly not in the driver's seat as far as my life goes; I'm just kind of along for the ride. After trying for a long time, my wife and I had a daughter six years ago. Not knowing anything about parenting, not having thought about kids in any way to that point, I had no idea about the state of children's music. I assumed that there would be an updated version of the music I loved as a kid, kind of an updated folk music. I heard a sound in my head that was kind of like early rock and roll, which to me was never that different from folk music. I had been immersed in West Indian music at the time, which is another type of music characterized by that same "handmade" spirit: everybody participates. So I just assumed that this music already existed.
MA: But it didn't.
DZ: No, but let me be clear: I am not one to complain incessantly about kids' music. There are a lot of people making music they believe inthere's a lot of good music. However, there's also a lot of stuff that just reminds me too much of the corporate culture that surrounds us every day. I know there are real people behind it who are making it, but I can't get with it. In any case, I never really found the sound I was looking for. I did find some things that inspired me to go make my own: Jonathan Richman, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's second record (Not for Kids Only), for example. I listen to that stuff whether my daughter's around or not. So, when it came to my music, I thought, "Why can't it be palatable to both kids and adults?"
MA: But Jonathan Richman is not stuff that's actively marketed to kids.
DZ: Not at all. And so, as a result, parents give up they're not all as willing to go in for the big search as I am. I don't blame them. I know parents who go down to Tower Records, go to the children's section, find a bunch of Barney CDs and the latest Disney junk, throw up their hands, go home and get the Beatles records out. Now, as great as the Beatles are, I don't know why a two-year-old needs to have his whole musical experience so intertwined with themes of romantic love. That just doesn't cut it for a kid. I think there's a place for music specifically for kids, music that introduces them to the mysteries of life, the natural world. It's all there in traditional children's music. I wanted to update that in some way and write some new tunes, too.
MA: In other words, you wanted to "do something useful."
DZ: It is useful and I've found my spot in it, I think. Which is good, because I don't really have any other skills (laughs).
MA: Tell me about the genesis of your record and record label, festival five.
DZ: What happened was, in 1999, I made a tape and gave it out to kids in the neighborhood. There was never any thought to taking it any further. I wasn't "plotting my next move." I had studio space over in Globe Studios (in New York) and recorded some things.
MA: Is that your studio?
DZ: No, I don't own it. Thank God (laughs) I'd be even crazier than I am already. It's a big studio room with a lot of little writing rooms on the sidealmost like a writers' colony. So I had a room, [Bad Company drummer] Simon Kirke had a room, [former Raybeats guitarist] Pat Irwin had a room, [producer] Mitchell Froom had a room. It was great. Some of my all-time favorite people in the world were hanging around there. That was a fun time.
MA: Do you still hang around there?
DZ: No, I moved here to the basement in Brooklyn. Which makes a lot more senseI just get on the horn and get people over here.
Dan Zanes...continued
M
Misha
(view)
Misha Angrist: In a recent e-mail to fans, you talked about getting a nice note from Pete Seeger and what a huge influence he was on you. I am wondering if that's something you would have freely admitted, say, ten years ago.
Dan Zanes: Oh, yeah. Nobody would have asked me, but I never had any problem acknowledging that. When I was in the rock world, he was always there somewhere in the recesses of my mind. When I started out, I was listening to Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Ella Jenkins. I used to go to the library in my town and get all those records. We'd go see Pete Seeger in Boston. I remember going to the Seabrook nuclear power plant demonstrations and seeing him there with Jackson Browne. At his shows, he would always get people to sing alongthat was a big part of it. That's all come back to me now that I'm doing kids' music.
Even with the Del Fuegos, I think we tried to carry Pete Seeger's spirit into the rock and roll world; the main idea being to simply "do it yourself." Folk music in the sixties was the "people's music," which I think could also have been said about rock and roll at one time.
I think the lesson of Pete Seeger is something along the lines of "Everyday we have the opportunity to do something useful." And I think that that's right: we have to. What choice do we have? Anyway, Pete raised the bar pretty high.
MA: Was there an epiphany involved in the decision to make children's music or was it more of a gradual realization that this is what you needed to do?
DZ: It was like so many other things for me. I'm clearly not in the driver's seat as far as my life goes; I'm just kind of along for the ride. After trying for a long time, my wife and I had a daughter six years ago. Not knowing anything about parenting, not having thought about kids in any way to that point, I had no idea about the state of children's music. I assumed that there would be an updated version of the music I loved as a kid, kind of an updated folk music. I heard a sound in my head that was kind of like early rock and roll, which to me was never that different from folk music. I had been immersed in West Indian music at the time, which is another type of music characterized by that same "handmade" spirit: everybody participates. So I just assumed that this music already existed.
MA: But it didn't.
DZ: No, but let me be clear: I am not one to complain incessantly about kids' music. There are a lot of people making music they believe inthere's a lot of good music. However, there's also a lot of stuff that just reminds me too much of the corporate culture that surrounds us every day. I know there are real people behind it who are making it, but I can't get with it. In any case, I never really found the sound I was looking for. I did find some things that inspired me to go make my own: Jonathan Richman, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's second record (Not for Kids Only), for example. I listen to that stuff whether my daughter's around or not. So, when it came to my music, I thought, "Why can't it be palatable to both kids and adults?"
MA: But Jonathan Richman is not stuff that's actively marketed to kids.
DZ: Not at all. And so, as a result, parents give up they're not all as willing to go in for the big search as I am. I don't blame them. I know parents who go down to Tower Records, go to the children's section, find a bunch of Barney CDs and the latest Disney junk, throw up their hands, go home and get the Beatles records out. Now, as great as the Beatles are, I don't know why a two-year-old needs to have his whole musical experience so intertwined with themes of romantic love. That just doesn't cut it for a kid. I think there's a place for music specifically for kids, music that introduces them to the mysteries of life, the natural world. It's all there in traditional children's music. I wanted to update that in some way and write some new tunes, too.
MA: In other words, you wanted to "do something useful."
DZ: It is useful and I've found my spot in it, I think. Which is good, because I don't really have any other skills (laughs).
MA: Tell me about the genesis of your record and record label, festival five.
DZ: What happened was, in 1999, I made a tape and gave it out to kids in the neighborhood. There was never any thought to taking it any further. I wasn't "plotting my next move." I had studio space over in Globe Studios (in New York) and recorded some things.
MA: Is that your studio?
DZ: No, I don't own it. Thank God (laughs) I'd be even crazier than I am already. It's a big studio room with a lot of little writing rooms on the sidealmost like a writers' colony. So I had a room, [Bad Company drummer] Simon Kirke had a room, [former Raybeats guitarist] Pat Irwin had a room, [producer] Mitchell Froom had a room. It was great. Some of my all-time favorite people in the world were hanging around there. That was a fun time.
MA: Do you still hang around there?
DZ: No, I moved here to the basement in Brooklyn. Which makes a lot more senseI just get on the horn and get people over here.
Dan Zanes: Oh, yeah. Nobody would have asked me, but I never had any problem acknowledging that. When I was in the rock world, he was always there somewhere in the recesses of my mind. When I started out, I was listening to Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Ella Jenkins. I used to go to the library in my town and get all those records. We'd go see Pete Seeger in Boston. I remember going to the Seabrook nuclear power plant demonstrations and seeing him there with Jackson Browne. At his shows, he would always get people to sing alongthat was a big part of it. That's all come back to me now that I'm doing kids' music.
Even with the Del Fuegos, I think we tried to carry Pete Seeger's spirit into the rock and roll world; the main idea being to simply "do it yourself." Folk music in the sixties was the "people's music," which I think could also have been said about rock and roll at one time.
I think the lesson of Pete Seeger is something along the lines of "Everyday we have the opportunity to do something useful." And I think that that's right: we have to. What choice do we have? Anyway, Pete raised the bar pretty high.
MA: Was there an epiphany involved in the decision to make children's music or was it more of a gradual realization that this is what you needed to do?
DZ: It was like so many other things for me. I'm clearly not in the driver's seat as far as my life goes; I'm just kind of along for the ride. After trying for a long time, my wife and I had a daughter six years ago. Not knowing anything about parenting, not having thought about kids in any way to that point, I had no idea about the state of children's music. I assumed that there would be an updated version of the music I loved as a kid, kind of an updated folk music. I heard a sound in my head that was kind of like early rock and roll, which to me was never that different from folk music. I had been immersed in West Indian music at the time, which is another type of music characterized by that same "handmade" spirit: everybody participates. So I just assumed that this music already existed.
MA: But it didn't.
DZ: No, but let me be clear: I am not one to complain incessantly about kids' music. There are a lot of people making music they believe inthere's a lot of good music. However, there's also a lot of stuff that just reminds me too much of the corporate culture that surrounds us every day. I know there are real people behind it who are making it, but I can't get with it. In any case, I never really found the sound I was looking for. I did find some things that inspired me to go make my own: Jonathan Richman, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's second record (Not for Kids Only), for example. I listen to that stuff whether my daughter's around or not. So, when it came to my music, I thought, "Why can't it be palatable to both kids and adults?"
MA: But Jonathan Richman is not stuff that's actively marketed to kids.
DZ: Not at all. And so, as a result, parents give up they're not all as willing to go in for the big search as I am. I don't blame them. I know parents who go down to Tower Records, go to the children's section, find a bunch of Barney CDs and the latest Disney junk, throw up their hands, go home and get the Beatles records out. Now, as great as the Beatles are, I don't know why a two-year-old needs to have his whole musical experience so intertwined with themes of romantic love. That just doesn't cut it for a kid. I think there's a place for music specifically for kids, music that introduces them to the mysteries of life, the natural world. It's all there in traditional children's music. I wanted to update that in some way and write some new tunes, too.
MA: In other words, you wanted to "do something useful."
DZ: It is useful and I've found my spot in it, I think. Which is good, because I don't really have any other skills (laughs).
MA: Tell me about the genesis of your record and record label, festival five.
DZ: What happened was, in 1999, I made a tape and gave it out to kids in the neighborhood. There was never any thought to taking it any further. I wasn't "plotting my next move." I had studio space over in Globe Studios (in New York) and recorded some things.
MA: Is that your studio?
DZ: No, I don't own it. Thank God (laughs) I'd be even crazier than I am already. It's a big studio room with a lot of little writing rooms on the sidealmost like a writers' colony. So I had a room, [Bad Company drummer] Simon Kirke had a room, [former Raybeats guitarist] Pat Irwin had a room, [producer] Mitchell Froom had a room. It was great. Some of my all-time favorite people in the world were hanging around there. That was a fun time.
MA: Do you still hang around there?
DZ: No, I moved here to the basement in Brooklyn. Which makes a lot more senseI just get on the horn and get people over here.
