Lisa Loeb, On Being a Mom and a Rock Musician

Lisa Loeb known for the #1 hit song “Stay (I Missed You)” from the “Reality Bites” movie soundtrack in the ’90s recently had a family show at McCabes Guitar Shop in Santa Monica last Sunday, Feb. 23.

The Matinee show was sold out. Upon seeing the audience, I felt I blended easily with the crowd as they were mostly Gen X’ers like me who brought along their children. Lisa brought her whole family and her daughter was on stage watching and singing along with Lisa to songs from her kids’ album: Lisa Loeb’s Songs for Movin’ and Shakin’: The Air Band Song and Other Toe-Tapping Tunes.

Lisa has done it all. Aside from performing and writing songs, she has appeared in reality shows like E!’s #1 Single, done voice overs for Bounty and Chili’s and BonTon industries in their spring TV spots, designed her own eyewear collection and introduced a coffee brand that’s called “Wake up! Brew!” All profits from her coffee go to Camp Lisa which helps underprivileged kids attend summer camp.

Loeb graduated in 1990 from Brown University with a degree in comparative literature.

Lisa Loeb Family Matinee Show at McCabe’s Santa Monica

Before her show, I had the opportunity to interview her and I must say that Lisa is one of the nicest people I have met in the industry. Speaking with Lisa Loeb felt like a chat with a long time friend.

Special thanks to Janet B. R.

Check out my interview with @ruchelfreibrun from this weekend’s show at @McCabesGuitar! http://t.co/RpRQP0LqFo

— Lisa Loeb (@LisaLoeb) February 26, 2014

Ruchel: You have ventured to almost everything – design your own Lisa Loeb glasses, you have your own brand of coffee, author, composer/singer, reality star, voice over actor, etc. What is the next favorite thing you like to do aside from writing and performing?
Lisa: Spend time with my family. That’s a big priority for me. You know, be a mom.

Ruchel: Would you do a reality show again?
Lisa: I wouldn’t do one where I’m in front of the camera. I do enjoy telling stories about people and their lives. It enables me to share where I think it is an interesting story and that is something I would be involved with one again. But probably not one with my own family on camera.

Ruchel: You came from a musically inclined family. One of your siblings is a conductor, another one is a musician and the third one is a mixed engineer. Are your kids into music too? Are you encouraging them to be musicians too?
Lisa: I want my kids to do whatever makes them happy, what they really enjoy and also hopefully in the future that is something they can make a living doing. You know, they can still play music for fun if it’s not their job and hopefully their life will be fulfilled with lots of things they enjoy. But my kids love music. My daughter loves opera. She’s four years old and her grandfather plays a lot of opera. She loves rock and roll and kid’s music. She’s really into music. My son who’s 1 1/2 loves guitar, drums and piano. We have a lot of music in the house and it’s part of our daily lives. They really enjoy it and they have their own preference and opinions about it already.

Ruchel: The “No Fairy Tale” album, it’s your first rock album in 8 years. What is special about this album?
Lisa: The album was a lot more rock and roll than some of the other albums that came before it and also a big collaboration with me and Chad Gilbert from the band New Found Glory. Also, I did somebody else’s song which I’ve never done before. I did a couple of songs that were written by Tegan and Sara who I am a big fan of.

Ruchel: Who do you want to collaborate with in the future?
Lisa: Oh my gosh, there is such a long list who I want to collaborate with. It’s hard to even know where to begin. There’s so many different musicians that I would like to write with, would like to sing with and would like to perform with. And on top of that especially as a busy mom, I’m really trying to find more time to write on my own, it’s own kind of voice which is different from a collaborative voice.

Ruchel: Who do you look up to in the music industry.
Lisa: I admire Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters. Awesome current music. There’s  a lot of energy in what he does.

Ruchel: Do you sometimes bring your kids to your family shows?
Lisa: If my concerts don’t interfere with their nap time then yeah I bring my kids. But their nap times are my priority.

Ruchel: You were at NAMM, how did Alfred Music helped you in your career?
Lisa: Alfred Music publishes my sheet music. They love music and are really great people. Their business has been around forever, and they always support me musically. They have invested in having the sheet music printed properly with all the chord charts done right, which is really important to me. Then they market it, so that people know it exists then other people can play the music, which is important. They are wonderful collaborators and also work closely with Daisy Rock Guitars. Again, another great company with a great mission to get kids, especially girls, interested in playing guitars which wasn’t always the case for the musical instrument industry.

Ruchel: Any upcoming projects/tours?
Lisa: My main thing right now is spending time with my family and at the same time being on the road as much as I can to play music in front of other people’s family. I’m always trying to figure out that balance between being a mom and a rock musician. Mom comes first. Also, I try to remember the magic in creating things.

Ruchel: Any words for the fans?
Lisa: I’m so grateful to them. They’ve been supportive of me, my music, for always being there as a great audience and also creating a great community online through my Twitter account, my Facebook account. I love communicating with them about everything from food to music to life.

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