Music Week Interview: Veda Hille, Duplex!

Ablum is a 2005 CD written and recorded by two families and a roommate living in the same Vancouver, B.C. duplex, along with a daughter's friend. Taking their name from their living situation, Duplex! (not to be confused with Dutch electronica band Duplex, which lacks the expressive punctuation) supplemented the standard rock instrumentation with lots of trumpet and a variety of additional instruments, and created an album of songs written by various family members in a collaborative process that gave each member the chance to express themselves. (You can read our review here.) We tracked down group member Veda Hille (in the photo above, the one on the far left) to try to figure out how they created such an amazing ablum - ahem, album - together.

ZRecs: What was your process in writing and recording the album? What roles did the kids among you have?

Veda Hille: Basically, the songwriting credits as they are listed on the album are absolutely correct. So if Matt (an adult) gets credit, he wrote the song. Saoirse and Sierra [Hille's stepdaughter and her friend, 11 and 10 at the time of the album's recording] came up with very specific percentages for their co-written songs, they were very clear who wrote what. Us adults really enjoyed writing songs about pets and bodily functions etc, and needed no help from the kids for subject matter. And then the kids' songs really came straight from them. I helped to coach them on some editing and finishing up, but really they wrote them. I love how strange they are. Some of them had been around for years, like "camels and elephants." They wrote that walking home from school in grade one or two. I guess I suggested the constant modulation for that one.

ZRecs: How do you have to modify your practicing or recording to accommodate kids in the process?

Hille: Generally I would rehearse with the girls for a while, and then the adults would rehearse, and then we'd get everyone in together. Everyone was of course very busy, and Annie and Matt had to take care of Abe, who was three at the time. He was pretty patient, but rehearsals were always very short.

In recording I had to face the challenge of not being too strict on the timeline. I'm pretty organized, and a lot of my skills in that regard were kind of useless. I was quite inspired when I saw the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players [a New-York-based family band we'll publish an interview with later this week] , because the dad put the daughter's needs before the audience. That was a radical idea for me, I'm pretty enslaved to the audience being on top of the totem pole. But if she needed to talk to him on stage, he just went over and talked to her for as long as it took. I tried to take that into the studio and on stage, where the kid's needs dictated the course of things. It was hard, and we have a few embarrassing recordings of me getting mad in studio when my stepdaughter wouldn't do what I wanted.

ZRecs: If an author has an "ideal reader," do you think a songwriter has an "ideal listener"? Who is your "ideal" kid listener?

Hille: We always say this is rock music for families. I like how open the word "family" is. There's lots of people without kids who like Duplex.

ZRecs: What do you make of the split between "kids' music" and music for adults? Where does Duplex fit in?

Hille: All of our kids have been raised listening to "adult" music. Saoirse was a big fan of Hole and Nomeansno when she was little, as well as celtic harp music. She's 14 now, and has some of the widest ranging taste I've ever seen. It's fantastic. The only thing I try to do is protect the little kids from explicit sexual content and swearing. Which is hard these days.

ZRecs: Tell me about your musical influences. At least 20 of them.

Hille: Oh gosh. We are all pretty different, and I'm sure someone will get mad at me but let me see what I can list here. Justin's favorite bands are Nomeansno, the Police, and Nick Cave. Matt loves the Kinks and the Talking Heads. Saoirse I think always wished that Duplex sounded more like Rancid. But she also likes Fleetwood Mac. Abe I'm not sure, I know he liked Blue's Clues at the time of making the record, but that's not music. Shaun Brodie likes Romantic Walks on the Beach. And the Hidden Cameras. Annie I'm not sure, she's got a terrific band now called Onward Voyageur that revives that excellent 90's girl band sound. Sierra, I'm not sure either, she does take piano lessons. I know she likes some of my records. And as for me, when playing with Duplex I think about the Who, and also Talking Heads, and maybe the Zombies.

ZRecs: What stylistic conventions do you think exist for kids' music? Which ones should be discarded to reinvigorate music for kids?

Hille: Music just doesn't need to be dumb for kids. Kids can handle very sophisticated music. It's nice if songs can be about things they are familiar with, but I think as long as the feeling is pure they can get into it.

ZRecs: What expectations do children bring to music that adults don't share? Do kids demand more of their musical experiences than adults do? Is there something for us adults to learn from kids about how to engage with or appreciate music?

Hille: Well, they get up and move more quickly than adults do. A solid beat is a good hook for a kid. They like to participate. Call and response is always very enthusiastic with a kid crowd. And enthusiasm is one of my favorite qualities in people of any age, so I suppose that's something we can learn from the wee ones.

ZRecs: Tell me briefly about your other projects. Bands? Solo work?

Well, Saoirse and Sierra are fully involved in high school now. Abe has a little sister named Gracie who is very sweet and serious. We're grooming her for future projects. Annie's new band is Onward Voyageur. Matt's new band is Chariots of Eggs. Justin's band p:ano just changed their name to No Kids, and their new record comes out next spring. Shaun lives in Toronto now, and is playing with all kinds of people. I have a new record called This Riot Life that comes out in January 2008.

ZRecs: I watched a documentary about the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players last night. There's this part where comedian David Cross is trying to explain what he thinks is so cool about the band. He says that seeing a 12-year-old drummer on stage with her father is "very hopeful" - i.e. that it portrayed a kind of relationship with children and within a family that is very inspiring to him. What inspires you about making music with kids?

Hille: Well, as I said it challenges me to be less in charge, which I think is a good thing in all areas of art making. And when you're working with kids, hopefully you let them be who they are. Which is what you should do with any collaborator. It's all about letting go of control, hey?

ZRecs: My daughter informed me at the dinner table last night that salad "tastes like dirt" (a direct quote from Ablum's "Eat Your Salad.") Do you REALLY THINK THAT IS A GOOD IDEA?

Hille: Hey man, I didn't write that song. I love salad.

ZRecs: What else should I be asking you?

Hille: Well I guess I can tell you that we have some new songs and we'll eventually get in the studio and make another record. But we're pretty lazy. Or busy. Whatever you want to call it. I'm so proud of Ablum though, it doesn't matter if we ever make another one. That was one of the most fun things I've ever done.

Read ZRecs' review of Ablum, one of our Music Week Top Picks, or visit Veda's website to learn more about all of her musical projects.