The Kindiependent Collective is an American collective of children's music performers and supporters based in Seattle, Washington, [1] who collaborate on recordings, performances and music business related projects. [2] The collective is composed of Recess Monkey, Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its!, The Harmonica Pocket, Johnny Bregar, The Board of Education and Brian Vogan and His Good Buddies. [3]
Kindiependent organizes several music series shows across the Seattle area including the Kids Rock Series at the Mount Baker Community Club. [4] In collaboration with the Northwest Folklife Festival, they showcase a daylong collection of family music performances each Memorial Day. [5]
Members of the Kindiependent Collective sometimes assemble to create collaborative music in mixed up pairings. Collaborations have included songs such as "Vagabond Worms" and "Kids' Table" as well as a collection of six Birthday-themed songs frequently played on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live Channel 78, entitled "The Happy Birthday EP." [6] [7]
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams, sometimes known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American record producer, songwriter, rapper, and singer. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has produced songs for various recording artists. In 1999, he became lead vocalist of the band N.E.R.D., which he formed with Hugo and drummer Shay Haley. Williams has been widely referred to as one of the most influential and successful music producers of the 21st century, having had a significant impact on the sound of modern popular music.
Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. is an American singer and songwriter who is the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices. In addition to his work with Guided by Voices, he continues to have a prolific solo career with 22 solo albums released so far.
Chaos Chaos are an American indie synthpop band based in Brooklyn, New York. The band was formed in Seattle under the name Smoosh in 2000 and adopted their current name in 2012. The band consists of two sisters, who founded the band as children: singer/keyboardist Asya "Asy" Saavedra and drummer Chloe Saavedra. They released three LPs as Smoosh, and have produced two further EPs, several singles, and a fourth full-length album as Chaos Chaos.
The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of influences ranging from alternative rock bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Spiritualized, the tremulous rock'n'roll of bands such as The Gun Club and The Patti Smith Group, to distinctive rhythmic Atlantic soul and Motown influences. Band members Liela Moss and Toby Butler also perform together in the electro-rock duo Roman Remains.
Jason Webley is an American musician known for his sincere fusion of folk, experimental, and alternative music. Webley plays the guitar and accordion, sometimes providing percussion by stomping or shaking a plastic vodka bottle filled with coins. Webley began his career performing solo, but has collaborated with a wide range of artists. He has also organized several commemorative concerts and events memorializing everything from tragedies in his hometown of Everett, Washington to tomatoes.
Laurie Berkner is an American musician and singer best known for her work as a children's musical artist and a teacher. She plays guitar and sings lead vocals in The Laurie Berkner Band, along with pianist Susie Lampert, bassist Brady Rymer, and drummer Bob Golden. She is a popular artist in the Kindie rock genre.
Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are known for their DIY aesthetic, combining electric likembé with vocals, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. The genre of the band's music has been characterized as difficult to classify; the group themselves have classified their music under the labels of "tradi-modern" and "Congotronics".
Sebastian Carmine Ingrosso is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He is also a member of the Swedish House Mafia, together with friends Axwell and Steve Angello.
Matt and Kim are an American indie electronic duo from Brooklyn, New York City. The group formed in 2004 and consist of Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums). The duo is known for its upbeat dance music and energetic live shows which often incorporate samples from other artists. Although they started their career playing shows in lofts and other close-quarters venues, they have since performed at numerous festivals, including Bonnaroo, Coachella, and Firefly Music Festival.
Michael Bradford is an American musician. A native of Detroit, Michigan he is known mainly as a bass guitarist but also plays guitar and keyboards, and has done extensive work in music production and engineering. Among others, Bradford has worked with Madonna, Youngstown, Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker and in music for films. He is currently the guitarist for The Felons Club and can be heard on their debut album Welcome to the Club.
Robert Roth is a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of 1990s Sub Pop and Capitol Records band Truly. The band reunited with all original members to play in shows in Seattle, London and Azkena Rock Festival 2008 alongside Ray Davies, the Sex Pistols, Dinosaur Jr. and the Sonics.
Linda Lamb is an American singer and musician of European descent, who has worked with Vitalic and Nina Hagen; she is known for her underground hit "Hot Room".
Anita Blay is a British-Ghanaian singer and songwriter, formerly known by the stage name CocknBullKid. She released her debut single in 2008 and her debut album, Adulthood, in 2011. Blay currently writes for other artists - and is part of the dance music duo Antony & Cleopatra and the London-based music collective Kommunion.
Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist, and Deakin. The band's work is characterized by an eclectic exploration of styles, including psychedelia, freak folk, noise, and electronica, with the use of elements such as loops, drones, sampling, vocal harmonies, and sound collage. AllMusic's Fred Thomas suggests that the group "defined the face of independent experimental rock during the 2000s and 2010s."
Elmo Kennedy O'Connor, known professionally as Bones, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Howell, Michigan. He is also the founder of the music collective TeamSESH.
Recess Monkey is a Seattle-based trio of current and former elementary school teachers who have made music for kids and families since their debut album Welcome to Monkey Town in 2005. They have since released 14 albums for family audiences. They perform live concerts throughout the United States with an emphasis on audience participation, dancing, and a focus on the entire family.
Carl Garsbo, better known by his stage name Kasbo, is an electronic record producer and DJ, originating from Gothenburg, Sweden. Starting his music career in 2013, he released multiple songs independently and through labels such as Monstercat, Foreign Family Collective and bitbird. He also released a couple songs on NoCopyrightSounds, those being "Steps", and "Horizon".
Kindie rock, otherwise known as "kindie" or "family music" is a style of children's music that “melds the sensibility of the singer-songwriter with themes aimed at kids under 10.” Many popular kindie rock artists first gained fame as adult performers, including Dan Zanes and They Might Be Giants. The term was first coined by Salon.com writer Scott Lamb in 2006, and has gained in popularity since. Although its original name implies a rock music style, kindie has never been purely rock music, instead encompassing innumerable musical styles. In recent years, artists have increasingly used the less specific term "kindie music" or "kindie." Playtime Playlist, a kindie directory website, notes that the term kindie “comes from merging of ‘Kid’ and ‘Independent’” and that kindie is differentiated from conventional children's music by the way that “artists are free to make music that comes straight from their heart and isn't bound by commercial formulaic rules.” As pointed out by Stefan Shepard of the kindie music blog Zooglobble, kindie artists' primary aim is to make child-oriented music with the same care and thought as adult music. It is also defined by its opposition to "mainstream" or commercial children's music. Community is also an important part of the modern kindie scene, as exemplified by the biannual Kindiecomm conference and the yearly Hootenanny gathering.
Drama is a duo from Chicago consisting of producer Na'el Shehade and vocalist/songwriter Via Rosa. Often described as a blend of R&B and dance, their music spans a wide variety of genres including pop, hip hop, jazz, bossa nova, and electronic. The band is known for their independent approach to creating and releasing their music. Their debut album Dance Without Me was released in February 2020.
KindieComm is one of the main conferences for American kindie musicians and was formed by Kathy O'Connell and Robert Drake of WXPN's Kids Corner radio show in 2013. Begun as an annual conference, but since moved to a biennial status, it is held in Philadelphia and serves to further the communal and collaborative aspect of the kindie music industry while advocating for independent children's music.