Shaking up his sound
Tyson Meade to debut first children’s songs at Wiggle Out Loud festival
With his effervescent personality, kaleidoscopic artistic style and otherworldly alternative rock music, it’s not hard to imagine Tyson Meade as a Disney/Pixar rendering or an anime protagonist.
“Tyson to me is almost like a cartoon character,” said Chris “Boom!” Wiser, half of the Oklahoma City family-rock duo Sugar Free Allstars, with a laugh. “I’ve always thought he’s so funny and nice and just silly and giggly . ... You just can’t help but be happy around him, and I think kids would be drawn to that.”
So, he invited Meade several months ago to join the lineup of Wiggle Out Loud, the family music festival Wiser helped launch in 2013.
That the Chainsaw Kittens frontman had never before written or performed any specifically child-friendly songs didn’t deter either musician.
“He and Rob (‘Dr. Rock’ Martin) of the Sugar Free Allstars, they are just such friends of mine, and when they asked me, I thought, ‘Well, if they have belief in me, I’m gonna write a bunch of kids’ songs and I’m gonna make this the most Pee-Wee Herman “Gong Show” you can imagine,’” Meade said. “That was sort of my inspiration for writing the songs. I feel like they have this belief in me, and no matter what, I know it’s
going to be fun. It’s opening a new weird chapter for me, for sure.”
Now an outdoor active lifestyles event as well as a music festival for families, the sixth annual Wiggle Out Loud gets back into action Sunday on the Myriad Botanical Gardens Great Lawn. The free event is presented by The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center and benefits The Children’s Hospital Volunteers.
Second chances
Wiggle Out Loud 2018 will boast a variety of healthy activities, including face painting, a giant fun zone with oversized lawn games; and interactive arts including shaving foam watercolor paintings, giant bubbles and finger painting. An array of food trucks serving healthy options will be parked nearby.
The event also will feature a diverse musical lineup, including return engagements for folk singer-songwriter Sarah Lee Guthrie, one of the granddaughters of Oklahoma icon Woody Guthrie, and Los Angeles-based Latin Grammy winners
Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band. Their sets were canceled at last year’s Wiggle Out Loud when stormy weather rolled through downtown Oklahoma City. “When it started lightning, we had to shut it down . ... That was the first time we had any issues with rain was last year,” said Wiser, who helps book the event’s music lineup.“It’ll be basically like Year Five, Take Two.”
Austin, Texas-based musician SaulPaul and Oklahoma acts Chasing James, Sugar Free Allstars and Meade will round out the lineup. The event’s musical programming is designed to appeal not just to children but also to parents, grandparents and even cool aunts and uncles, Wiser said.
“Wiggle Out Loud is a family music festival. That was the goal from the beginning — and that’s the goal with the music that we play . ... We try to tell people that you don’t even have to have kids to come to this event and have fun. It’s not kids’ music. The Wiggles is kids’ music. Barney is kids’ music. But Sugar Allstars is family music, and Wiggle Out Loud is a family music event.
“Think about it: our very first ever headliner is the Verve Pipe. They’re not known as a kids’ act, but they had released a kids’ album. But to the majority of the world, they’re known for their big hit song on college radio,” he said.
“Nobody has seen what Tyson is going to do, and I’m really, really excited to see what he does . ... He really seems to really be having fun working on songs and thinking about the show he’s preparing.”
Happily terrified
Meade has spent much of the past year and a half or so traversing new territory. He started learning piano, he had his latest solo album, “Robbing the Nuclear Family,” chosen as a featured Record Store Day release, and now he’s polishing up a batch of kidfriendly tunes and devising his first family music show.
He even ran for Congress, and even though he lost in the Democratic primary, Meade said he enjoyed his venture into politics. “I admired how the teachers just made a stand. Usually the most meek population just stood up and said, ‘No, we’re not going to take this anymore.’ There were people saying that, ‘Oh, well,
they didn’t get what they wanted,’ but their voice was heard . ... That was one of the main reasons I ran, because I thought, ‘Well, if they’re going to risk their livelihood, risk their jobs, then I’m going to do this because I have a name of sorts,’” Meade said.
“I feel like Oklahoma has been very kind to me, and I thought, well, even if I don’t win — which I didn’t — (I’ll get) that whole experience in meeting people and getting to see the whole political process. My opponent, Kendra Horn − who I think has a really good chance against (incumbent) Steve Russell — she and I became friends during the whole thing, because neither of us wanted to make it about her against me. We knew that we were fighting together for what we wanted to accomplish.
“I feel like that is my mission, to do things that are just way out of my comfort level. It’s a metaphorical jump out of a plane, I guess,” he added with a laugh.
Although Wiggle Out Loud will mark his first foray into family music, the Oklahoma City rocker isn’t a newcomer when it comes to working with children. He taught school for several years in China before moving back to his home state. “I had a co-teacher, a Chinese woman, she told
me my position once. She’s like, ‘OK, so I’m like the stern mother, and you are the cool uncle.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, I’ll be cool uncle to these kids,’” he said with a laugh. “I’d like to think that I will have some sort of positive influence when I perform, that ‘Oh yeah, he’s up there doing this, I can do that, too’ or ‘Maybe that’s what I want do someday’ or ‘Maybe I can be a little more daring.’”
Although he isn’t sure if Wiggle Out Loud will be a one-off experience or lead to more opportunities to entertain youngsters, Meade said he is excited to find out what comes next.
“I felt that is my persona, being kind of the goofy guy, so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just write some goofy songs about waffles and this pair of Superman socks that I have that I love that my friend bought me.’ One of my favorites that I’ve written is ‘Never Put Your Head in a Bag When You Put on a Wig,’” he said.
“There’s one song called ‘Green Gorilla.’ I found a stuffed green gorilla at a thrift store, and I’m like, ‘Well, I better write a song about that.’ ... I’m hoping that I can get some sort of ‘Green Gorilla’ singalong going. I love this. I’m really terrified — but terrified in a good way.”