Barenaked Ladies

Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies will soon be celebrating twenty years of making melodic, hyperactive pop, but first they’re taking a break to celebrate parenthood. Their latest release, Snacktime!, is the band’s first foray into the kid record world — and if the enthusiastic toddlers on their recent promotional tour are any indication, it won’t be the last. Babble went backstage with frontman Ed Robertson to get the goods on Geddy Lee, seven-year-old humor and their collective position on breastfeeding. — April Peveteaux

What was your inspiration for making a record for kids?

There are a lot of kids in the Barenaked world — we’re more than outnumbered two-to-one — and they’re all still in a place where they’d enjoy it. We had them all sing on the record. It was extremely cool to have them all piled around a microphone like it was Bring Your Kid to Work Day.

What kind of kid music did you listen to in preparation?

They Might Be Giants was a big inspiration. But for the most part we just tried to make a cool Barenaked Ladies record. You don’t need to dumb stuff down for kids. Kids like Green Day and the Foo Fighters. Our main goal was to make sure that the subject matter would be interesting for kids.

Did you every say, "Hmm, do you think we should change our name for the kid record?"

No, because the band isn’t called Nude Chicks or Hot Naked Sluts, you know? It’s the Barenaked Ladies. It’s something a seven-year-old would say.

What’s better — an audience of college students or preschoolers?

Both! I love playing to a crowd that’s got everything from kids to grandparents in it. I love watching different people’s reactions to what we do. Kids respond to the energy level, and then their parents are responding to the wit and the fun of it all.

When you look out at your preschool audience, what are they doing?

They’re certainly reacting to the energy of the music. There are a lot of familiar kid jokes on the record; like in “789″ (lyric: “6 is scared ‘cuz 789″). We tried to tap into that, and the kids seem to really respond to it.

Do you have any endorsements from Playskool or Bugaboo?

No, the Barenaked Ladies are currently seeking endorsements! [Laughs] Please spread the word that we’ll do nursing pads or lactation pumps. We’re very pro-breastfeeding dads.

You’re popular with the ladies, then.

Oh yeah.

You’ve got some celebrity guests on Snacktime. Is Geddy Lee a big fan?

Geddy Lee is the coolest dad on the planet. He’ll never lose idol status for me. But he’s just a regular guy. Our daughters are about the same age and we — just by complete serendipity — ended up vacationing at the same place a couple years in a row. Our daughters hang out and Geddy and I hang out as rock n’ roll dads. It’s pretty funny.

You weren’t even stalking him? You just randomly ended up at the same place?

He was stalking me! [Laughs]

What advice would you give to a ’90s band that’s trying to break into the kid music scene?

Don’t do it. We’ve got it all spelled out! Don’t even try. [Laughs]