Do Fun Stuff with Ben Cooper of Radical Face

Several months ago, Ryan asked me to participate in the promotion of Do Fun Stuff, a record he put together with a group of talented and generous musicians to benefit his son, LB who had recently been diagnosed with Smith-Magenis Syndrome. I was asked to interview Ben Cooper of Radical Face, who I have featured here before, and of whom I am a major fan.

I am both honored to be involved in Ryan's outreach and thrilled with the results of the album which we've been full throttle rocking (at Casa GGC) all week.

Ryan, you are an example to all human beings of how social networking can be used tastefully and genuinely for good. Your heart is my hero.

...And without further ado... a few words with Ben Cooper of Radical Face! Applause!

***

GGC: Hello, Ben! First: I think you're swell. Your Song "Welcome Home" makes me weepy and nostalgic and euphoric and celebratory and high, then low, then high, then low again. Bravo. And no, this isn't a question. Second: I'm in love with "Missing Teeth" - the song you wrote for the "Do Fun Stuff" record. I've been listening to it on a loop since Ryan sent it to me and much like "Welcome Home" it makes me sad and happy and all sorts of introspective - thinking about my own childhood, my kids, the magic of youth and change. (Your mention of power lines made my five-year-old son's day. He had a power-line themed birthday party. Power lines are his number one.) Third, and finally: a question: "Missing Teeth" is about growing up. What is your fondest childhood memory?

Radical Face: I had a pretty interesting childhood. It'd be hard to separate a single favorite moment. So I'll just go with the first one that popped into my head…

When we were kids, my little brothers and I built a water slide off our tree-fort in the backyard. It was a good 12 feet high. We made it by running scraps of plywood from the highest platform down to the ground, then nailing a plastic tarp down the length of it, finally putting a hose at the top. We nabbed the dish soap from the kitchen, greased up, then slid away. It was pretty steep, and there wasn't anything at the bottom – just grass, some roots, and a puddle. But being so covered in soap we just slid across the grass for a good ten or fifteen feet before stopping. We loved it. Despite getting nicked by the nails if you went to far to either side.

When mom came outside and saw how rickety and dangerous this contraption was (it was held up by stacked milk crates, and we were all pretty covered in scrapes by the time she found us), she made us tear it down immediately. It was fun while it lasted.

GGC: If you could sit down for lunch with your five-year-old self, what would you two talk about?

Seeing as 5-year-olds tend to take the reigns in conversations, I'd imagine we'd talk about Transformers and skateboards. Maybe Ghostbusters. I loved that movie as a kid, even though most of it scared me. I couldn't watch the opening scene in the library.

GGC: What songs would you dance to?

I remember liking The Talking Heads at that age. So probably “Burning Down The House.”

GGC: Where do you draw your inspiration as a songwriter?

That's something that changes a lot. Sometimes I pull from books, or films, or records, or from places I can't put my finger on. I really just try to work on whatever I'm excited about exploring at the time, whatever it may be. I work the best when I'm excited about what I'm doing, so I really just chase that.

GGC: Your albums have themes to them which I love. (Ghost was about houses. Sleep Well (for Electric President) was about Nightmares.) Almost like the album is a song itself. What is your process writing a single song vs writing an entire album?

Writing a single song and making an album are very different for me. I like to tackle records as a whole. I strive for all the songs to work together toward a common goal or mood, and I'm more concerned about the overall album than any individual track. There are pros and cons to this, but I've prefer approaching it this way (at least up until this point). Themes definitely play into that a lot.

But individual songs present their own challenges. Namely, time. Where it's a lot of juggling to keep a whole record in mind (seems like every new decision causes two more problems), you have more time to get your point across. Sometimes stuffing it all into one song is tough. But you sure are done a hell of a lot sooner, which is nice.

GGC: How did you approach writing a children's song since it isn't normally what you do?

As a kid, I rarely liked songs that were intended for someone my age. I mostly ignored them. So I didn't know how to go about writing a children's song, to be honest.

In the end I opted to write about being a kid, versus specifically being for a kid. Then I just attempted to keep it upbeat and melodic, since I think we attach to those elements as much as anything as kids. Who knows if it worked or was effective, but it was enough to get the song done at least.

GGC: Besides being a musician, you're also an artist and designer. How do your creative outlets influence one another?

It's all pretty similar thinking, in my experience. The methods and techniques are different, but the principles you learn in one creative process often lend themselves to another. Just learning how to get your ideas from out of your head to the chosen medium is useful practice for any of these things, be it art, or music, or design, or prose, or whatever else.

I also think that switching mediums goes a long way toward keeping everything fresh. If I work on one thing too long, in the same way, I usually come to hate it and destroy it.

GGC: What are you currently working on?

I've been working on a set of 3 records that all revolve around a fictional family tree I came up with (ranging from around 1800 to 1950). The set of albums is called “The Family Tree”, with a subtext for each record. The first volume (“The Roots”) is finished and will be out early next year. I'm currently tracking volume 2 (“The Branches”), which will hopefully be released next year as well. I'm trying to keep the space between the album's small.

I'm also close to finishing a record, 2 years in the making, called “Clone.” I partnered up with Rickolus for this project (he's also a contributor to this compilation). We've made a real monster of an album, and I don't know if it will be very accessible, but we're both very proud of it. I have no idea if anyone will be willing to put it out.

And

lastly, I'm booking some tours where I'll be predominantly playing in odd places (backyards, graveyards, cabins in the woods … anywhere but clubs and bars). I'll be putting some dates for those shows on my website soon. And that's about it.

GGC: Thank you muchly for this, Ben. You're the radical face-est.

To listen to Ben's Song "Missing Teeth" and/or purchase Do Fun Stuff on Itunes (all proceeds go to prisms.org, to fund research for Smith Magenis Syndrome) go here. For more information, check out dofunstuff.com.

***

Thank you to Ryan, Ben and all of you.

GGC

No the matter, be triumphant!

Happy twenty-three months to our resident exclamation point.

GGC

Eat Well: Wendy with a Chance of Grain

GGC note: the following post was written by my mother

Several Novembers ago, Larry and I took a wonderful trip up the Northern California Coast and ended in Oregon to visit my aunt and uncle. (As we wended our way through Sonoma vineyards, we realized we had chosen, by accident, the perfect time to take this trip. Seeing fields of grapevines in late autumn is like viewing fall colors on miniature trees in Munchkin land!

Plus, not many people travel the week before Thanksgiving so we had the wine country, redwoods, elk herds, and the Mendocino coast all to ourselves.I know this isn’t a travel post, but I had to mention this in case any of you are planning on exploring the California coast any time soon!).

Anyway, we stayed several days with my lovely Uncle John (Nana's brother) and Aunt Dot in Ashland, Oregon. I have been thinking long and hard about a way to best describe them and after a lot of thought, have come up with the term “Bohemian Naturalists.”

Aunt Dot protesting the slaying of redwoods. Hell to the yes.*

Now in their eighties, they have been organic gardeners and active environmentalists since before I was born, and cooking with them for several days had a huge impact on my decision to chose an alternative way to eat. We devoured delicious soups and huge chopped salads, all created from their garden bounty and co-op farm, but my favorite meal of the day was the very simple breakfast Uncle John made for us using whole grain.

At the time of this trip, I had recently had an emergency hysterectomy, which afterwards affected my digestive system, so I had been experimenting with a high fiber diet, adding oat bran (which basically tastes like shredded cardboard) to everything, including my morning granola or muesli. I LOVE both granola and muesli, but they are expensive to buy and time intensive to make. And I have never been a huge fan of oatmeal… something about the consistency of the stuff has turned me off since I ate some paste in kindergarten. So when Uncle John served us his morning grain, or “kasha,” I thought I had gone to heaven.

Kasha in this country is often defined as cooked whole buckwheat, but in Slavic countries, Kasha (translated as porridge) is a mixed grain meal made up of any of the following whole grains: oat groats, rye, barley, winter wheat, or whole buckwheat groats. Along with cabbage, kasha is a staple in the Russian and Eastern European diet and is eaten both sweet and savory. It is easy to make, DELICIOUS to eat—not pasty but chewy and flavorful—and is very inexpensive when you buy the grains in bulk…one pound of these grains is about a dollar and feeds a family of four for about 5 days. That means each serving is about 5 cents!!! The grains are high in fiber since they are unprocessed (no more oat bran for me!) and contain tons of iron and protein. Plus, a breakfast of kasha stays with you all morning. Using several grains increases your nutrition, for just as it is important to eat lots of different types of vegetables, it’s equally important to eat from the rainbow when it comes to grain.

from left: oat groats, rye, hulled barley and hard winter wheat

Always use WHOLE grain or groats. You can combine any whole grain (except millet…it is too mushy) in any combination. Make sure if you use barley you use the hulled barley, not pearled, since pearled barley, too, gets mushy. You can use the ancient grains, spelt or kamut, if desired. Or, you can use whole oat groats by themselves, which is great if you are gluten intolerant. (Oats are gluten free, but can be contaminated with other grains, so if you are on a STRICT gluten free diet, buy one of the gluten free oat groats available online or at your natural food store).

raw oat groats

Kashi makes a 7 whole grain Pilaf which is already combined for you and put in packets, but it’s three times the cost and honestly, it takes no time to mix the grains yourself (plus the Kashi pilaf doesn’t have oats in it which is my favorite part of the mix!)

You can buy bulk grain at any Whole Foods, natural foods market, food co-op, or at many specialty food stores. If you can’t find a market that sells in bulk in your town, all of the grains can be ordered online (or you can use the Kashi pilaf). I buy a bag of each of the grains and then combine them together and store in an airtight container until I’m ready to cook them. My uncle’s Kasha is made with about ¼ hard winter wheat, ¼ rye, ¼ oat groats, and ¼ hulled barley, but now that I am eating a gluten free diet, I use only oat groats and it is also delicious and has a great consistency. It takes almost an hour to cook these properly, so I make up a huge batch of grain and keep them in the refrigerator, warming them up every morning for my breakfast. My uncle cooks them the night before for 45 minutes and then turns off the stove, letting the pot sit all night. This works great. My sister-in-law makes them in a crock-pot (on low) overnight and says the grains are perfect in the morning.

Warm up what you need in the morning and then add fruit and berries, seeds and nuts (I love sunflower seeds and walnuts), kefir, yogurt, almond or rice milk, dried fruits, coconut, or whatever else you like on hot cereal (real maple syrup or brown sugar for a special treat!!).

with blueberries and walnuts

You can also serve this grain as a side dish with dinner and add stir-fried vegetables, tamari or Braggs amino acids. Or…use in a savory salad instead of rice.

Here is the basic Kasha recipe. I double this recipe, making enough for about 5-7 days, depending on how many people you are feeding. This is a tasty and wholesome substitute for all of the sugary and over-priced processed boxed cereals bulging from the cereal aisle at the grocery store.

Kasha

(1) cup of any combination of the following WHOLE unprocessed grains:

-oat groats

-winter wheat

-spelt

-kamut

-triticale

-rye

-UN-PEARLED barley

(3) cups water

1.Combine grain and water in a saucepan. Bring to boil and turn down to low.

2. Cook for 45 minutes-1 hour, or until the consistency you like:

3.Let grain sit, covered, until cool and then refrigerate.

4. Warm up as needed. Serve with any combination of fruits and nuts you desire:

grains with kefir, raspberries and figs, topped with brown sugar = heaven

If you use the “Kashi Pilaf,” use 3 cups of water instead of 2 and cook as above. The package instruction says 2 cups of water and to cook for 25 minutes, but the grains are too hard that way and I don’t think as tasty.

***

I hope you enjoy these grains as much as I do. I look forward to this breakfast every morning. (I have been known to travel with a bag of grain and a small electric pot!!) And kids love them, especially mixed with yogurt or kefir and fresh berries!!

Love,

WWW

***

*Rebecca, here. That photo of Aunt Dot was on the cover of "Earth First" magazine several years ago. Great aunt Dot is currently backpacking ON HER OWN in the Sierras at eighty-two years old. My favorite Dot story = the time she went skinny dipping with Anais Nin. The women in my family were/are feisty forces to be reckoned with. Here's to age keeping all of us young.