WERS 88.9 fm Artist Interview: Cats Pajamas

October 18, 2008

If you were around in the days of Calvin Coolidge and speakeasies, you may have referred to a particularly talented flapper using this phrase: the cat’s pajamas. People used the expression often in the 1920s to describe an excellent person or thing. These days, a troupe of children’s music aficionados called Cat’s Pajamas certainly live up to their name. For over 10 years they have garnered the attention of thousands of children and their parents along the East Coast.

First formed in Philadelphia in 1995, lead singer and founder Janet Schriener loved the idea of incorporating the ideas of children’s literacy into fun and energetic music. This is obvious from the get-go as they start off their set with the rockabilly tune “Read To Me.” The peppy beat gets enormous support from the pitch-perfect harmonies of vocalists Janet, Christine and Nick. Throughout the choral bridges, such diverse and cherished storybooks from The Ugly Duckling to Where The Wild Things Are come up, all to one rockin’ piano melody. Listen for the kazoo solo just before the acappella breakdown too!

Aside from radio performances, Cat’s Pajamas tours frequently all around New England with a few stops down through Florida as well. “We love to perform at elementary schools because you can really see the kids get into it,” said Janet Schriener. “It seems that whenever they’re not with their friends, kids can get a little more shy and reserved, especially when they’re with their parents. That doesn’t mean we don’t make them participate!” It’s not unusual to see kids and their parents dancing in the aisles, and who could blame them for enjoying such a uniquely refreshing sound that’s seldom found within the Hannah Montana clones of today.

Even while recording on-air, Cat’s Pajamas don’t hold back anything and utilize their airtime as an in-person performance much like performing at any elementary school, complete with puppets for visual aids and animated dancing that attracted an audience from those looking into the studio off of Tremont Street. Cat’s Pajamas also take very thorough measures to ensure their audience gets to participate and feel like they truly are part of the story. Case in point: their second song, entitled “Señor Don Gato.”

This tale of a feline troubadour named Don Gato starts off with a flamenco guitar interlude that sounds as if inspired by the classical opera, Carmen. The rest of the song is set as a kid-friendly tango describing the passionate Don Gato out to proclaim his love for a lovely lady cat, only to accidentally fall and break his knee and solar plexus while waving a love letter around on top of a high red roof.

Watching the meowing of the vocalists all while the drums and keyboard keep the pace is quite a sight to behold and the story is both familiar but entirely original as well. Janet explains, “In one instance when we were performing [Señor Don Gato], a little 5 year old girl was in tears by the end of the song. She was so sad that Don Gato was dead that we had to go down from the performance area, with the Don Gato cat puppet in hand, to show her that he was alive and well. She must have tuned out the section of the song where Don Gato gets better and get to live with his beloved. It’s so satisfying to see that some children can get totally immersed in the stories and react as strongly as they do to our music.”

Things start to wrap up with their final song of the evening, a Southwestern-sounding road trip song titled, “Little Red Movie Star Car.” Never has owning a cute little red convertible sounded like so much fun, even through pretending. Like any old 60s era road song, Cat’s Pajamas go into classic necessities that movie stars need before a sunny drive about Hollywood. From a wide brimmed hat, big sunglasses, a red silk scarf tied around the neck to a yapping little dog riding in the passenger seat, it’s a list of all you need to look famous and fabulous driving around. They incorporate motions and urge their young listeners to join in the good time.

This is the kind of on-air story telling we need nowadays. It helps to open up the minds and imaginations of kids who yearn for such creative forms of self-expression. “We do our best to make the stories we sing about come to life,” claims guitarist Christine Havrilla. “We also hope that the different kinds of music we incorporate in each song- blues, rock, vintage- help to open up their minds to other cultures. It’s a testament to the great talent of everyone in the band as well.”

www.howlinrecords.com

-Tracy Trauscht