Rolie Polie Guacamole Is Coming To Town, And They’re Bringing “Chips And Salsa” For You

Kids + Indie = Kindie. And Brooklyn-based Rolie Polie Guacamole dish out some of the best of that very particular brand of music.

Andrew Tuzhilin, Frank Gallo, and Peter Barr are coming to town to celebrate their fifth album, Chips and Salsa. The album follows the band’s tradition of blending a funky, upbeat indie rock sound with stories get the the kids to dance and sing.

The album release party takes place on Saturday, September 26 at ShapeShifter Lab (18 Whitwell Street, between 1st and Carroll Streets) at 10:45am. And the opening act is Lou Gallo, father to RPG’s Frank Gallo.

The band is known for blending their original songs with cover songs for their live shows. They’ve performed over 1,500 times and have won both the Parents’ Choice and NAPPA Awards.

Both Gallo and Tuzhilin possess the same enthusiasm and humor when discussing their work that you hear on the their albums. We took some time with them to discuss their new album, expansive music tastes, and of course, their love for the neighborhood.

PSS: Congrats on the new album. We had a listen, and Chips & Salsa sounds great. Tell us a bit about some new approaches or styles that you are working on with the new album.

Frank Gallo: Thanks so much Donny! Chips and Salsa has been about eight years in the making. This is the first time we’ve recorded an album of songs that we’ve been playing for such a long period of time, so going into tracking we were the tightest we’ve ever been.

With the addition of Peter Barr on drums in 2012, we began to get a bit more syncopated. Peter also introduced more of a world feel to the band, which can be heard on “Açai,” “Always Brush Your Teeth,”and “This Land Is Your Land.” For Chips and Salsa, Peter also broke out the pans, which have not previously made it onto a Guacamole track. It was around the time that Peter joined us that I started playing more electric guitar. (Christian McCarthy, our original drummer, had moved to Cape Cod and subsequently switched to lead guitar.) The first album with this line up was 2014’s Triathlon, which we made with our longtime producer, Max Caselnova.

For Chips and Salsa we opted to work with “kindie” (kid indie) guru, producer Dean Jones. He played a variety of instruments on the album, and it really was like adding the fifth Beatle. Dean provided a lot of input on what and what not to play.

In addition to Dean Jones, we had Amelia Robinson of Mil’s Trills and our friend Katie Mullins as backing guest vocalists. They really helped us round out the harmonies and fill in the gaps.

We were also lucky enough to have some fantastic non-kindie guests play on our cover of the Woody Guthrie classic, “This Land Is Your Land.” Percussionist extraordinaire Mike Dillon plays bongo, timbale, vibes and marimba, along with the enchanting vocal stylings of Jen Chapin and The Chapin Sisters. The song shines as a strong finale to what we feel is our best album.

Andrew Tuzhilin: Chips and Salsa is definitely our best work, largely due to the fact that we’ve been playing these songs for several years, which has contributed to their natural evolution. We’ve also had time to experiment to see which tunes were more musically engaging to kids. If you listen closely to the album, you’ll hear that the songs range from polka, samba, and rock to funk and punk, with an overall theme of healthy food and a fun, active way of living.

Stylistically, our drummer, Pete Barr, has brought a lot of variety to our sound, and he’s helped us to grow, both as musicians and as people. Our producer, Dean Jones, also contributed a lot of color to the record, making it very fun and kid-friendly.

Some of the album’s song titles are named after New York landmarks — the Museum of Natural History and Central Park. Can you tell us a bit about places in Park Slope that have had an influence on you as well?

Gallo: “Central Park” is really a remake of our 2010 Brooklyn anthem “Prospect Park” from our album Time For Hummus. We felt that the original was solid, so for this record we went with a bit of a Manhattan theme. That said, Andrew (Lefferts Gardens) and I (Windsor Terrace) both live on adjacent sides of Prospect Park, and it’s definitely our park! It was a great pleasure to play in the park this summer with fellow kindie rockers Dog On Fleas at Hip Tot’s Family Day at the LeFrak Center.

Of course we would be nothing without the continued support of our home playground, JJ Byrne, and the great folks at the Old Stone House! They’ve been with us since the beginning, and we cannot thank them enough for their support.

I have been playing in Park Slope basically every week since 2009, starting at the Y on 9th Street. I also teach at a number of local daycares. Currently, I have a weekly singalong at 4:15pm on Tuesdays at Two Boots on 5th Avenue and 1st Street. It’s nice to have them back in the neighborhood! I highly recommend the gluten-free V for Vegan pie.

Tuzhilin: My father lives in NYC, so as a kid these landmarks were home away from home. I think it’s great that generation after generation can enjoy Central Park and the Museum [of Natural History] and share the same experiences I had as a kid. They really embody the spirit of NYC. That said, we felt that since these places were so universal to anyone who grew up in or around New York, it was appropriate for us to write about and share them with the new generation.

You have two Brooklyn dates coming up — are you looking forward to the ShapeShifter Lab show?

Gallo: We love playing at ShapeShifter Lab. The owner, Matt Garrison, went to school with Peter and was Andrew’s bass teacher at Berklee College Of Music. As a direct result of the venue being curated by a pro musician, the sound there is killer. We also like that it’s a bit more centrally located than some of the other Gowanus venues. My dad, kids’ musician Lou Gallo, will open the show, which is a real treat. He was a tremendous contributing factor in the recording of the original Rolie Polie Guacamole demo in 2006, so it means a lot to have him play with us all these years later. This will be our first album release party at ShapeShifter Lab, and we plan on making it a high energy dance party that can be enjoyed by all.

Tuzhilin: We are really looking forward to our CD release party at ShapeShifter Lab. We love playing there because it’s such a sweet venue, and the owner, Matt, is the best of the best. (I used to take bass lessons from him at Berklee College of Music.) This should be a great show, and we invite everyone to put on their dancing shoes and come out to shake their shakers with us!

What does the term “kids’ music” mean to you? How does it differ from other music you like to play? Or is there a connection?

Gallo: Most of our songs, while “rated PG,” are pretty cross-generational. We have really tightened up the show over the last few years, and aside from trying to make sure that our overall volume is appropriate for little ears, we try to make music that the whole family can really enjoy together.

That said, we find kids’ music to be lighter and more fun to play than music that’s strictly intended for adults. The audience is way more engaged at a Rolie Polie Guacamole show than with a band playing at your local bar. Kids don’t have the same barriers that adults do as far as having a good time. They also know when they like something and are not afraid to tell you if they don’t. We try not to sing at our audience, but, instead, we include them in our songs through shaking, flying, jumping, brushing, mashing, dragon hunting, street crossing, and even the occasional “kindie mosh pit.”

Tuzhilin: What separates kids’ music from original adult music is, obviously, content, but music is music. I grew up listening to Russian kids’ music, and from a musical standpoint there was not much difference from regular music, other than content, message, and storyline. I feel it’s the adults who decide what kids’ music is “supposed to be,” based on ideas they’ve formulated. From what I’ve seen, kids are receptive to all music, even heavy metal.

You’re excellent musicians and writers — we’re sure you have a variety of music tastes. Who’s been an influence on you as a musician?

Gallo and Tuzhilin: Primus, Ween, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Boards Of Canada, and CSNY [Crosby, Still, Nash & Young].

And it’s sometimes an impossible question to answer, but tell us some of your desert island albums!

Gallo and Tuzhilin: Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada, Hail To The Thief by Radiohead, Fizzle Fry by Primus, Blue by Joni Mitchell, The Mollusk by Ween, In Utero by Nirvana, So Far by CSNY, A Date With The Everly Brothers by The Chapin Sisters, Vespertine by Bjork, and The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd.

Rolie Polie Guacamole Rundown: The Chips and Salsa Album Release Party
Where: ShapeShifter Lab,18 Whitwell Street, between 1st and Carroll Streets
When: Saturday, September 26 at 10:45am, doors open at 10:30am. With opening act Lou Gallo.
Information: 646-820-9452
Admission: $12 in advance, $15 day of show: $15. Family of four, $40. Children under age one admitted free of charge.