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All three of you are teachers and you started your band on the playground, how did this come to fruition?
Nicola: Lisa and I were covering recess duty together on a Friday afternoon. After commiserating over shared experiences while dodging basketballs, we decided to go into the studio and write songs to turn everyday grievances into something positive and fun. Within three months, we were touring and ready to cut their first album, Dear Youth. After returning from our first east coast tour, Joanie moved west and joined the band.
How would you describe your sound?
Lisa: We like to think of ourselves as fun, guitar heavy and melodic with cool harmonies. If you ask a radio person, we are Alternative Rock. We are kinda punky, but not punk. We are kinda 80’s, but with current influences. Our music sounds like “Stranger Things”. YES!! That’s it!!
How do you balance all the work that goes into being a teacher, while still finding time to pursue your passion for music, too?
Lisa: Well none of us have “small children” at home, so that helps. But truthfully, the band has had a hugely positive impact on lives as teachers. Creativity feeds people and makes us feel alive. When we feel alive, our students can feel it and things resonate everywhere. Everyone gets more energetic and more creative. The band takes an enormous amount of time and energy, but it doesn’t feel hard, it feels exciting.
As you can imagine, the tools that a teacher uses everyday can be very helpful managing a rock and roll career…being organized…being on-time…being prepared…evaluating our own progress and problem solving and not constantly noodling on your instrument during band practice lol. We are super good at setting goals and making lists!
Really, we are doing the same thing at school as we are doing at shows. It’s ALL PUNK ROCK!!! (We just swear more at night).
You’ve all been on tour this summer, what’s your favorite part of being on the road? Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Nicola: We love being on tour! At this point, we travel really well together and have lots of tricks for staying rested, healthy, and in good spirits. Our favorite part is meeting people along the way and seeing familiar faces when we return to locations. Our pregaming includes lots of coffee, a little gin, not eating too close to the set time, a moment of alone time, vocal warm ups, stretching, double checking the set list, and teasing each other relentlessly.
No Small Children were part of the final Warped Tour, how was that experience?
Nicola: We were so happy to be invited to play by Shiragirl. Shira herself is a dynamo who makes things happen! The hang with other bands and music fans was awesome, and we’ve made friendships that are already proving to last longer than the day. The event itself is pretty crazy. All the band, vendors and crew arrive at 8am and learn how how the layout for the day is going to happen. Once people know where to go and the order of sets, a mad whirl of activity starts before doors open. It was like creating a small village in a few hours. Everyone who worked the Shiragirl stage was totally pro and just very cool.
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Tell us more about the meaning of your latest music video, “I’m So Concerned”?
Lisa: The song is really more of a question and not knowing everything. It’s about paying attention. It’s about listening. It is about education, it is about responsibility, it’s about respect for young people. It’s about the fact that we are pretty much screwing over a whole generation and then blaming them. It’s about hope and belief in goodness. It’s about feeling helpless. It’s about teachers feeling completely overwhelmed. It’s about everything that we are feeling in our classrooms. It is urgent.
Why did you feel the need to speak out with “I’m So Concerned”? How does the song relate to our current social and political climate?
Lisa: We are just writing songs that make sense to us and the world we live in. We have been concerned for a long time. Most teachers have been doing more and more with less and less for years and years. Lately, it’s been worse because when people become fearful, they start tearing each other apart, which is what (we) are doing now. Teachers are in the classroom trying to get everyone to care about the world and to be nice to each other. There is so much that I get overwhelmed even thinking about it. I need to go make a list!!
What was it like working on your latest album, What Do The Kids Say? with legendary producer Bob Marlette?
Lisa: Bob is a awesome guy. We learned a ton working with him. It was very different working with an outside producer, but Bob really listened to us and also challenged us. We would work on the songs at our rehearsal room and then play rehearsal recordings for him. Sometimes it was hard to hear things he said, but it always lead to something that we were way more psyched about. He is an incredible producer and engineer. He made us better at being us.
Do you have anyone that you’d like to work with for an upcoming single/album?
Nicola: Too many to name! But truthfully, the writing comes first. While the songs unfold in the studio, ideas about what type of instrumentation unfold. The process is more of a flow than a calculation.
What upcoming releases should we be on the lookout for from No Small Children?
Nicola: We have two fun releases coming out in September. The director, Paul Feig, asked us to record a version of “Laisse Tombes les Filles” by Serge Gainsbourg for the closing credits of his new film” A Simple Favor” out in theaters September 14. Our cover will be on the official soundtrack as well. Later in September, we are excited to release our official video for our song “Radio.” We were honored to work with professional puppeteers for this truly fun romp. – A
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