By Stacee Sledge
If the phrase “kids’ music” makes you think of “Wheels On The Bus,” you’ve probably missed the ”kindie” rock movement sweeping the country. Seattle’s Recess Monkey is at the epicenter of that genre-busting brigade.
As this indie music-loving mom can attest, Recess Monkey songs do what few kids’ tunes can: make you not only tap your feet, but also hit the “play” button even when the kids aren’t around.
But don’t take it just from me. Accolades have rained down on the band from People, Time, Parents, and a myriad of other magazines and websites.
Recess Monkey band members Jack Forman, Daron Henry, and Drew Holloway met in 2001 as teachers at Seattle’s University Child Development School. Jack currently teaches first and second grades, Drew pre-K and kindergarten, and Daron kindergarten and first grade.
“We really had a lot of mutual admiration for each other as teachers,” says bass player and front man Jack Forman, “and slowly we discovered that we had a lot of similar music tastes, as well.”
Between them, they play the three instruments needed for a functional power trio. Joining Jack on bass, Drew plays guitar and sings, while Daron plays drums.
Drew is the band’s prolific chief songwriter, capturing melodies and intertwining them with thoughtful, sharp lyrics. Jack and Daron help brainstorm, write lyrics, and polish ideas.
Seven years and seven albums into the band’s career (album number eight, In Tents, is due June 19) Jack says they feel grateful to have struck a balance between teaching and making music.
It wasn’t initially clear that the three men could make kids’ music they would like to play.
“I wouldn’t say we dismissed the genre, it just never really occurred to us,” Jack says of the short-set style.
In fact, Jack, Drew, and Daron first aspired to be prototypical indie rockers, playing lots of late mid-week nights at the Crocodile in Seattle as The Waiting Room. Drew and Jack also previously played together in a band called Pop Interstate.
“When you’re loading out of the club at 2:30 a.m., that’s not a very good recipe for professional sanity when you’ve got to get to work at seven the next morning,” Jack says with a laugh.
“It was us getting to know each other as musicians,” he continues, reminiscing about those Waiting Room days. “It was really pretty nonaspirational.”
Surrounded by ideas every day at work, they started to experiment with writing songs about kids and their experiences in the classroom.
“We worked on the debut album while still doing the indie rock,” says Jack. “That record, which we finished right around September of 2005, launched the band.”
Recess Monkey’s first live audience was bigger than any they’d seen as an indie ensemble. “Not to mention way more giving in high energy,” Jack says, smiling. “Kids just have so much genuine appreciation for music they like.”
It didn’t take Recess Monkey long to ditch the indie rock and focus exclusively on the kids’ stuff.
“We had to kind of unlearn a lot of indie rock tendencies,” Jack says. “Indie rock bands, generally, have to be kind of brooding or moody. There’s the cool factor, almost elevating yourself above your audience in some ways.”
Daron, Drew, and Jack quickly figured out that they could knock down that separation when playing for crowds of kids, and began making each set as authentically interactive as possible.
“Really, it’s the same skills we use in our classrooms,” Jack says, “but it took awhile to learn how that translated into an audience of people we didn’t necessarily know.”
The band has performed more than 500 shows, and Jack says playing live is now just like breathing air or drinking water. “It’s a very natural activity and it doesn’t feel too dissimilar from what we do in the classroom.”
Part of Recess Monkey’s appeal is the cleverness and depth of its lyrics, in stark contrast to so much traditional kids’ music.
The band picks a theme for each new record, and then watches and listens carefully as their students inevitably stir up ideas that fall in line with topic.
Past themes have included superheroes (Flying) and outer space (The Final Funktier). The upcoming record, In Tents, has a circus theme.
Another reason kids and adults alike are drawn to the songs is that Recess Monkey successfully tackles a variety of musical genres in their compositions.
All three Recess Monkey members are huge music fans, with eclectic tastes.
“What we figured out early on is that no one said that kids’ music has to sound like kids’ music. It can sound like adult music,” says Jack. “Part of our charge, I think, is to expose the kids to as many genres and feelings as we can.”
To that end, Recess Monkey songs include shades of the Beatles, Elvis Costello, Vampire Weekend, and everything in between. Pulling off such an array of styles is no easy feat.
“Probably our roots in education are helpful too, in that we really see ourselves as ongoing learners,” Jack says. “We’re not afraid to throw ourselves into some kind of weird context to figure new things out.”
Bringing in talented outsiders also helps them span genres.
“We’ve had several guest musicians and guest producers over the last couple of albums who have been really instrumental – no pun intended – in teaching us about new styles,” says Jack.
They learned a lot about funk from Tor Hyams, who produced The Final Funktier. Dean Jones, another forward-thinking kids’ musician, from upstate New York, traveled to Seattle to work with the band on the upcoming record.
“It kind of took us a little out of our musical comfort zone but also exposed us to so many new ideas. It was amazing,” Jack says of the experience with Dean.
Though all of them continue to teach, Recess Monkey has grown into a successful side career, garnering national attention with every CD release, and playing shows all over the country.
For the most part, they isolate touring to summer, but the band squeezes in the occasional one-off show during the school year.
The band typically makes its albums over winter break, and anytime they have a week off for school they try to go someplace national to play shows.
“We were just in New York and D.C. this past weekend,” says Jack. “We plan it around breaks.”
School-year trips can be a whirlwind. “Like, Friday after school we’ll jump on a plane and go to Oklahoma City or Chicago, play for a day, and come back,” Jack says. “It’s ridiculous, it’s such a rock star kind of move.”
Recess Monkey perform a free show this Saturday, March 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Kenneth J. Minneart Center for the Arts on the South Puget Sound Community College campus. Teachers of Tomorrow Club will be collecting food for the Thurston County Food Bank.
“We were amazed the first year we played,” Jack says of the annual SPSCC show, which began in 2009. “There were, like, 700 people in that theater. It was amazing. It’s such a high-energy show.”
