When Andrew Barkan met Polly Hall in college studying music, he had no idea of the epic adventure the duo would embark on. Now, three kids an Emmy nomination and a Grammy nomination later, the couple are still exploring their world through music.
Their recently nominated album, Ahhhhh! is not just for kids, but rather it is an immersive story that explores the big and small problems families face everyday.
Born out of the couple’s own experience in parenting and mental health post-covid pandemic, Ahhhhh! touches on points beyond the struggles of childhood, diving deeper into systemic issues shaped by the pandemic and prior. While these topics may be heavy, the duo finds multiple ways to make them accessible and light-hearted for all to enjoy, particularly children.
“We take a topic and then we think, ‘Well, how is this accessible to young children? What do they know? What don’t they know? What’s a good stretch for them? What part of ourselves are we trying to share — our collaborators trying to share in this song,” said Hall.
This sentiment is felt throughout the whole album. Danger Baby, for example, is a high-energy and hysterical song while being an ode to the greatest stress parents confront, which is watching your child face new dangers every day. Other songs touch on the feelings and emotions that children learn when faced with such dangers and allow for kids to express those emotions in the music.
“The song’s called, Let’s Get Mad… Parents are always telling their kids to not get mad, like getting mad is the problem. But anger is just the feeling. That’s the response that we have deep in our amygdala about responding to things that we see that are not right, whether they’re personal to us, or whether they’re really big and societal. Any kid can, and family can empathize with this idea of ‘oh, wait, like, let’s think about how anger feels in our body, and then what we can do with it.’ If we can channel it in the right way we can make changes that will help the world,” said Barkan.
Proud parents of three daughters, Barkan and Hall understand these situations well. Their children have been the biggest inspirations for this album, so much so that one of their daughters, Gertie, is even credited as a writer for the song Rainbow Shoppe.
After discovering a rainbow while out in their backyard, Gertie kept trying to “go back to [her] rainbow shoppe” the rest of the day.
“She and I kind of sang on it a little bit in the backyard … Then, fully a year or more later, we finally figured out how to get it in the studio, [and] that we wanted to work with our friend Lucy Qatari … and turn it into the song that’s really about how to find a creative place, how to find a regulated place where you feel comfortable, a place where you thrive, and what do you do when you can’t get there,” said Hall.
The duo’s musical history began long before they were parents with two decades of collaboration under their belt. They got into children’s music around 10 years ago, after burning out working in the commercial and film industry. Having recently moved to LA, the duo began booking more family and local events, feeling particularly drawn to the way kids responded to their enthusiastic music.
“They just would stop and look at us and [be] like, ‘How do I, how do I music? I’m so interested in this!’ It was so joyous,” said Hall.
Barkan and Hall have plenty of excitement about their Grammy nomination, and look forward to the ways it can hopefully change the face of children’s music and beyond.
“The stakeholders and the gatekeepers of larger media projects can look at what’s happening in children’s music and see, ‘wow, there is both really awesome catchy music being written for children right now. And stuff that’s really important emotionally and socially, that can help raise a new generation of more open people.’ I’d love to be a part of that. And hopefully this nomination can help that,” said Balkan.
Both Barkhan and Hall grew up outside of Santa Monica, but having lived here for over 10 years as they have grown their careers and family, the couple considers Santa Monica their heart and home, and have immense gratitude for all that this city has given them, including all the support they have received for this impressive accomplishment of an album.
“And it’s been such an amazing place to grow into, I had no idea the city was going to offer so much for us,” said Hall.
The album Ahhhhh! Was released in September of last year, and was Grammy nominated for Best Children’s album of the year. For more information on the couple and their music, visit their website and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and Youtube.
Antoinette Damico, SMDP Intern