ACL preview: The Jellydots

The Jellydots are an Austin kids’ band fronted by Doug Snyder, who spends his time — get this — teaching kids music. We talked to Doug about his upcoming set and kids’ music in general.

That Other Paper Tell us about what we can expect from The Jellydots’ live show at ACL this year.

Doug Snyder We’ll be putting on the best show yet. We’ve added a fourth member, which gives us a much fuller sound. We’ll be playing a mix of songs from Hey You Kids! and songs from the upcoming album Changing Skies.

courtesy of The Jellydots’ MySpace page 

TOP Obviously, co-writing songs involves a different skill set for young students than simply learning old standards. What do you feel are the advantages of each method, and why did you end up choosing the former in the end?

DS Learning old standards is a great way to belong to the greater community. If I teach a kid “Old MacDonald,” chances are good that when she plays it, others will know the song and sing along to it. When we all know they lyrics to a song, there’s a powerful sense of belonging there. When a student writes her own song, she immediately becomes a peer to all other songwriters. This de-mystifies the art of songwriting.

Co-writing songs with kids is a great way to show them that writing a song can be as easy as drawing a picture. I’ve had lots of students who don’t yet know which songs they want to learn, so if we start fresh with a few basic chords I’ve taught them and a few lyrics on a subject they’re fond of — like race cars — we can usually have something to work on right away. Being a songwriter myself, I’m always full of ideas about writing new songs, so when a student decides she’d like to try her hand at writing a song, it’s very natural for me to break down the steps involved. I think the most important thing about co-writing with kids is that it’s an absolute blast for both of us.

TOP You have CDs arranged in order of difficulty, and in order to tire kids out then lull them to sleep. What is the advantage of sequencing songs functionally like that? Do you feel it ever stands in the way of how the songs would sound best sequenced?

DS Our first album, Music is Cool, had songs arranged in order of difficulty. Track one was the easiest song to play on guitar, and track 12 was the hardest. We did that so the songs would dovetail with a guitar method book I wrote. I think, stylistically, it worked out just fine. That was the only time I’ve done that kind of track sequencing on any of my albums — the hope was that our audience would understand. I will say that in our current iPod times, track sequencing is less crucial than it was five years ago. So many of us listen to music libraries on shuffle and that makes for eclectic song choices. I love it when I hear “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys immediately followed by “Place To Be” by Nick Drake.

When we put out Sleepin’ in 2004, most of the songs were written at the same time and with a specific track order in mind . The idea was to have the busiest, most rhythmically complex songs at the beginning of the CD, and as the album played on, the songs became quieter and more basic, with fewer chord changes.

With our most recent release, Hey You Kids!, the tracks were sequenced with uptempo songs at the beginning and slower songs at the end. Since we chose so many different musical genres on that record, I knew the main unifying element would have to be the vocals. I sang on all the tracks, and I think that gives it a coherence. If you were to put that CD on shuffle, I think the songs would sound great in any order.

The advantage of sequencing songs in the ways we have throughout our catalog is that it gives each album a certain function. Parents will know that Music is Cool was designed to learn basic guitar. Sleepin’ was designed to lull you or your child to sleep or decompress from a stressful day. Hey You Kids! has danceable tunes in the beginning and slower songs at the end. It’s almost like a 41-minute workout with a built in cool-down at the end.

TOP What is the greatest message audiences can take from The Jellydots?

DS Our greatest message is that we love music. And through The Jellydots we get to spread this love and enjoy it with others whether it be in-person, at shows, or through our albums.

TOP What are your favorite Austin things to do?

DS Barton Springs when it’s free from 9pm to 10pm, cycling around the city, looking for music at Waterloo Records, watching all the characters on the number one bus that runs on North Lamar.

TOP Favorite restaurants?

DS The Salt Lick, Veggie Heaven, Kim Phung, Rudy’s, Mr. Natural, Zen.

TOP Venues?

DS Flamingo Cantina, Ruta Maya, Stubb’s, The Hole in the Wall, Threadgill’s, Auditorium Shores, Zilker Park, The Broken Spoke.

TOP What about places to take out-of-town guests?

DS Lovejoy’s, Barton Springs, Sixth Street, the UT campus, The Salt Lick.

TOP When you were a kid, what did you tell people you wanted to be when you grew up?

DS At first, I wanted to be an inventor because I was always taking things apart and building strange, crude creations. The bottom drawer of my dresser was filled with wires and motors and all kind of moving parts. Later, I wanted to be an artist. In high school I was a big science fair nerd and I wanted to be a botanist. Ever since I can remember, throughout all the other career ideas, I wanted to be a singer and guitar player. That was the biggest dream.

TOP Anything else we should know about The Jellydots? Convince those parents who don’t know if they want to take their kids to see you.

DS We’re hard at work on a new album called Changing Skies. The subject matter is still for kids, but on this record we explore spoken word poetry, more advanced musical compositions, and a love song or two. For Jellydots fans, this will be the best record yet. We love it, and we know you will too. Our show at ACL will be a sunny flight to the moon and back sprinkled with love and light. Your faces will be sore from smiling so much.