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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Learning Buffet Release - June 2010 We are very pleased to announce the release of our latest project, Learing Buffet. The project is a combination of many life experiences and inspirations. Special thanks to all our fans, friends and family for so much support and encouragement. Friends, fans and family all seem to be one in the same. There should be a new word to combine them all, like "franily" :-). We would love to hear from you and also read your reviews on CDBABY.com We are featuring the song "Love My Cat" on Oasis CD Sampler and will also be doing special promotions. The song "Love My Cat" is interesting in that the lyrics originally came to mind after a dream of being totally surrounded by kittens about 10 years ago while living in Taiwan. I woke up and felt like cats were running around inside my head. It was like a Ball Pit Bounce with cats. Then while working on Learning Buffet, about 10 years later, the music seemed to fit that original inspiration. Although heavily influenced by hop hip, I studied violin from 4th grade until college. I always played piano by ear, remembering progressions if I liked the flow. I don’t really feel like I play the piano. I feel like the piano plays me as I express feelings and moods through it. A friend taught me a jazz c scale in college and I have been applying that theory intermixed with much of my style. Since completing studies at Washington and Lee majoring in East Asian Studies and Computer Science, I worked overseas in Taiwan teaching English as a second language for about 10 years. The time spent in Taiwan teaching English opened many opportunities for me to write songs for children. After returning back to the States, I focused on computers and still continued to compose music as a hobby. Computer skills have helped me in setting up my website at www.yesnack.com. My latest release, Learning Buffet is a hearty mix of stories, oodles of educational themes and phonics drills. It is like a super sized combo-meal of stories, phonics and educational themes marinating in jazz, hip hop, funk, blues and pop. Most notable jazz style for Learning Buffet is prominent in the following tracks: 1.) Really (Instrumental) 3.) Trey and Lovely 8.) #1 Potion H2O I wrote Really while teaching English as a second language in Taiwan around 1998. The song Really is titled that because as I would practice it, friends would ask me what I was playing and I told them that it does not have a name yet because I am still in the process of writing it. Everyone would always pause and respond with loud surprise.. “Really?!” So that is what I decided to name the song. The Music for “Trey and Lovely” and “# 1 Potion H2O” was mainly composed while I was a student at Washington and Lee University around 1989. The lyrics for both songs were written just last year in 2009. The story for "Trey and Lovely" evolved from my teaching experiences in Taiwan and the song “Spider” from my earlier release on “Cool Songs Collection & Times Table Fun”. For me, the huge gaps in time in composing these songs meld into unusual jazzy-fun-raps. How did you get started writing children's music? While teaching English in Taiwan, a friend asked me to write original poems or chants for class. Later on I was then asked to set them to music. I got such a wonderful response, it just went on from there. How do you decide which songs to put on the CDs? When developing the songs, I'd play them in class. If the students turned into Smart Cookies then that would define the song as a perfect ingredient for "Yummy English Snack". Aside from the kids, the unusual combination of being both my biggest supporter and biggest critic, my wife, always tells me like it is in order to always get the best out of each project. Who is the logo of the kid eating the drumstick? Why the ant? The logo is a caricature drawn from a picture of me when I was about 6 months old. The ant represents the company, YESnack, as being a small underdog of sorts just trying to get a piece of the pie, or at least some pie crumbs :) Ants can do great things when they work together. And the ant reminds me of the song High Hopes... Let's move that rubber tree plant. Who drew the pictures? A very talented artist named "Spring Rolls" from Taiwan drew the cute images. We worked together for a while on several projects. Do you do shows? When do you perform? I have only done a few performances since returning from Taiwan. More events may be coming soon, as a new project is in the works. I have gotten lots of new inspirations... What are some of your influences? Which performers do you admire? As a kid I watched the usual shows such as Sesame Street, Electric Company and so on. I appreciate wonderful melodies from classical music - I played violin for about 7 years starting from 4th grade. I love the fun, creative, lively energies from hip hop, jazz, and pop music. Too many artists to start naming. Back to the children music genere. I think Roger Day, Eric Herman and Dan Zane are great performers/writers. I also like the flow and approach for writing educational themed songs from CBeebies and Rhythm Rhyme Results. And hey!! Can't leave out Biz Markie. Biz breaks off some raw hip hop funk for the kids on the show Yo Gabba Gabba. How do you record all the songs? Do you have a band? I do not have a band. I just play around on the keyboard and have fun with the guitar until I like the sounds. I mainly play by ear and just try to remember the chord progressions, melodies and beats as I compose. The first project, Cool Songs Collection, was recorded at Lee's Music Studio while I was living in Taiwan. On my second project, (which is still in the works) I record all the songs using my keyboard (Roland Juno-G), microphone, computer and guitar with amplifier (Crate with built in FX). I call my modest home studio the Yummy English Snack Laboratory (Y.E.Snack Lab) If you have more questions, just drop me a line. Thanks |
