INTERVIEW: Andrew & Polly decide to ‘Go for the Moon’
Photo: Andrew & Polly’s new album is called Go for the Moon. Photo courtesy of band / Provided by Waldmania PR with permission.
The meteoric success of family-friendly musicians Andrew & Polly has been out of this world, and now they have an album title to prove their interstellar success: Go for the Moon, which was released Sept. 27.
The duo consists of Polly Hall and Andrew Barkan. They write songs of positivity and adventure that have been gobbled up by children and their parents for years. Go for the Moon is their fifth album, and it joins an extensive résumé that includes Ear Snacks, an award-winning podcast for young children; regular play on SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live; and songs for Sesame Studios and Nickelodeon.
Go for the Moon has several highlights, including a cover version of Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” a mini rock opera called “Mom’s Name” (co-written by guest singer and instrumentalist Mike Phirman) and “Chair School” with Mista Cookie Jar.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Andrew & Polly about their new release. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What inspired you to create the new album Go for the Moon?
The everyday ridiculousness of being (or having) a little kid is always an adventure. Whether it’s trying to get to the aquarium, trying not to fall out of a chair, or trying to remember that one mom’s name (I think it ended in an “-a” or an “-y”?), our days turn into epic journeys, and we thought we’d write some songs ’bout them. Celebrate the craziness, you know?
What are some of the positive messages of these new songs?
Go for it! Amidst all the epic quirk of this record, we hope parents and kids can draw confidence and joy from hilarious experiences we all have in common. We remix words of aspiration from JFK’s famous ‘moon speech’ in our cover of Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star,’ and in ‘Garden of Your Mind’ we quote the affirmational words of our hero, Mister Rogers. Each day is an epic journey, and we all need a little courage and kindness to make it — parents and kids alike!
How do you put yourself in the mind of a younger listener when deciding upon beats, rhythms and lyrics they would like?
We’ve taught and played music with thousands of young kids in our work as performers and interviewed hundreds for our podcast, Ear Snacks. Like any humans, kids like it when you respect their intelligence, so we never shy away from big beats or strange sounds when we’re building songs for young ears. As long as they have a rhythm they can move to and a catchy hook or two they can sing along with, kids can rock along with just about anything. Our own kids (5 and 2) love the Beatles and movie soundtracks, so if they like listening to us we know we’re doing something right!
Do you rely on your own memories of being a child when thinking about new songs?
We grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, so I think the pop culture of the time influences our songwriting style while our experience as parents influences the content of our songs even more. We both grew up with The Muppets, [Steven] Spielberg films, Bruce Springsteen and Nintendo, and you can definitely find those sounds built into this record.
When did you realize a family audience would be best for your duo work?
We started our careers as composers — Polly for advertising, Andrew for film — but quickly found an escape from long hours in the studio by bringing our acoustic instruments into small settings to play for families. We realized we could combine these experiences — goofing around and dancing with little ones and making big cinematic sounds — into a really fun, really smart soundtrack for kids and parents to enjoy.
What does the future hold for Andrew & Polly?
After the quirky anthemic pop creations of Go for the Moon, we want to try something completely different. Building on our work as podcasters and children’s television composers, we’ve started developing a few fictional worlds that we’d love to roll out as serial audio shows (complete with imaginative soundtracks, of course!). We believe audio can play such an important role in a family’s media diet. We’re constantly looking for ways to evolve as creators (and parents) to contribute to that landscape in a meaningful way.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Andrew & Polly’s new album is Go for the Moon. Click here for more information.
