Sisters are a teeny bit clever
LITTLE STEVIES TAKE A THOUGHTFUL APPROACH TO KIDS’ MUSIC, AND KEEP PARENTS HAPPY
WHEN sisters Bethany “Beth” and Sibylla “Byll” Stephen, from Melbourne, launched Teeny Tiny Stevies as a childrenfocused offshoot to their folk duo Little Stevies they had a clear goal.
They’d write songs for children that didn’t talk down to the kids and tackle issues from the environment to empowerment in a language younger ears could understand.
When they released Useful Songs for Little People in 2015, with songs including Baby in Mummy’s Tummy, Not Afraid of the Dark, and Family (Love is Love) they received feedback they were making music for children that parents weren’t being driven to distraction by.
“When we got that consensus on our first album it was like, ‘Phew’,” Byll Stephen says. “That was our intention. Anything is going to be annoying if you listen to it over and over, we’re very aware of that. We just approach the songwriting the same way we’d write an ‘adult’ song.”
With a five-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son, Byll can road test songs on her own kids.
Prior to the pandemic, Little Stevies had forged a path as a festival drawcard, while Teeny Tiny Stevies had carved out a niche performing familyfriendly concerts. They are often the first live music experience for kids.
“I don’t see myself as a ‘children’s performer’, it’s a real skill to walk into a kids’ party and entertain kids,” Byll says. “I’m no good at that. I love standing up on stage and playing our Teeny Tiny songs for an audience full of families, I love playing to kids and their parents and the interaction the families have with each other.
“I love being able to play a really fun song and drop in a joke for mum and dad. That’s where I get my fulfilment.”
They’re starting to see some younger fans transfer from Teeny Tiny Stevies to Little Stevies.
“Both bands are all part of one big music career now and it’s still evolving. We played a Teeny Tiny iny show before everything shut down and a mum told me her eight-yearold daughter was now listening to the Little Stevies. I didn’t foresee that but it’s great.”
After a stand-alone single Stay Home, to help kids understand the pandemic, they released their third album last month, Thoughtful Songs for Little People.
It includes Plastic, about the environment, and Abilities, about children with special needs.
“Our overall rule for Teeny Tiny Stevies is if we’re going to write a kids’ song we want them to be useful or have a purpose,” Byll says.
“We all know how music gets stuck in your head. I can still tell you Pizza Hut’s phone number because it was on ads on TV all the time in the 80s. It’s teaching something without being preachy.
“We’ve had a few parents write to us about Abilities – they said it’s helped them, a mum said her little boy has Tourette syndrome and that’s the song he’s requested most in the last two weeks. That’s lovely. We’ve had parents thank us for telling their kids they’re doing their best in Stay Home. That’s the best thing you can hope for when you put music like ours out there to families.”
While their tour is on hold (including shows at the Opera House) they’re waiting patiently for gigs to return.
“The first live show will be a real moment,” Byll says. “I’m a cryer. It’ll be emotional. If I see someone in the audience who looks like they’re feeling emotional like me, even if they’re looking emotional because their kid just did a poo in their lap, I’m going to interpret that look like, ‘Oh you can’t believe we’re here either’ and it’ll be waterworks.”
Some children entertainers, like The Wiggles and Peter Combes, have started playing their kids’ songs for adults who grew up with them.
“Maybe that’ll be our future, 40 year olds going off singing, “I only go to the toilet on the toilet!”
Thoughtful Songs for Little People (ABC Music) out now