Imagination Movers Concert, Sirius XM Radio, NYC

NYCity Mama’s boys love music.  They love to sing, dance and find anything and everything to make music with, no matter how noisy.  And one of the bands that is guaranteed to get them on their feet is that of the The Imagination Movers.  Mama’s boys rarely miss a show, which airs at 9:30AM ET during the week, and 10:00AM on weekends, and when she told her they were heading out to see them the boys would not stop singing the theme song to their song, also titled Imagination Movers. The band is currently promoting a new album “For Those About To Hop” being sold exclusively at Target for now.

Rich Collins, Scott Durbin, Dave Poche and Scott “Smitty” Smith make up the New Orleans-based alternative rock band preschoolers and the next big thing to hit Disney Channel in their new Playhouse Disney series of the same name. Though their catchy tunes are expressly written for kids, you can often find NYCity Mama signing along to their tunes as well. Collaboratively written by the four guys, the music covers a variety of genres including old funk, new wave, punk, country, ballads, hip hop, American rock and more, with each Mover bringing his own musical sensibility to the table.

They quickly arrived to the Sirius XM Radio studio and offices, where they later met up with their friend Jen and her little boy.  It was only a 15 minute wait, but it seemed longer…only because 15 minutes for little kids is an eternity.

The Movers were warming up behind the plexiglass walls of the studio, and kids watched in excitement and awe as they made silly faces, waved hello, and played their instruments, even though the kids couldn’t hear them at the time.

Once the concert started however, the kids quickly moved up to the front and sang along, danced, jumped, spun around, raised their hands, stomped their feet, and clapped joyfully to the music.

Mama’s 3.5 year old danced the most, while her 2.5 watched in awe.  It was a lot of fun seeing the kids (and parents) have such a great time.

After the concert, The Movers came out to great everyone and take pictures.  Mama’s boys were stumped, at a loss for words.  Her 2.5 year old resorted to just following one or another band member around and whispering as he looked at the floor once he had gotten their attention, while her 3.5 year old wouldn’t sit still long enough for a photo from all the excitement.

After being treated to a double whammy of sweets (juice AND cake), Mama and the boys, along with her friend, Jen and her son, had the opportunity to hang out in the Green Room with the band for a few minutes.  And while Mama took pictures, and Jen interviewed them for her blog, the boys got comfortable.  Mama’s 2 year old proceeded to take off his shoes and eat from the fruit bowl set out for the band, while the 3.5 year old took his brother’s balloon and offered it to the band as a gift.  He would also make small talk with one band member or another, starting the conversation with, “Imagination Movers…”  What struck Mama the most about the band members was how down to earth and charming they are.  How patient they were with the kids asking them so many questions (and us taking so many pictures), and how approachable they all were as well.  Band member Rich even talked to Mama about his son, and how similar his hair and her 2.5 year old’s hair is while showing her his picture.  And in the end, that is how they won her heart; in the fact that they are so connected to their own families and children, and how obvious it is this is the source of their inspiration to their music and work.  Her kids were big fans already, and now so is she.

Rock on Dudes! We wish you continued success!

The Making of The Imagination Movers

While the Movers are now on the cusp of achieving national recognition with their series and albums, the four band members and close friends, three of whom are dads to young kids, have had their share of obstacles, most notably, surviving Hurricane Katrina.

They lost their production office, instruments and props to Katrina. Three of the guys lost their homes; the fourth, Smith, a New Orleans-based firefighter, was part of the search and rescue effort. Jobs vanished; mortgages disappeared. But the Movers continued on, even fulfilling a commitment to perform in Dallas a week after the storm.

“We were half celebrity, half refugee; people were bringing us clothing,” quipped Collins.

The response from the community was incredible. Emails began pouring in from families thanking them for providing a sense of normalcy for their children during a chaotic time. The devastating storm only solidified the group’s commitment to their fans and each other.

“If there was ever a question during the whole Katrina episode of whether the Imagination Movers were going to continue, it was answered quickly through those emails and the outpouring of love from our fans,” said Smith. “And that inspired the song ‘We’ve Got Each Other’ which is a direct result of Katrina.”

The idea for the Imagination Movers series began in 2003, after the deaths of Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers, when Durbin, a former elementary school teacher, noticed a lack of male role models in children’s programming.

“When you start having kids, you’re born into their culture of children’s programming, and I saw this void of real people,” he remarked. “It was all cartoons or puppets, and also there was a very noticeable lack of males. Having taught elementary education, I knew the importance of having males as strong role models, and I thought it was something children’s programming needed.”

Durbin did not need to look far for collaborators. At his son’s birthday party, he turned to his three friends, Collins, Smith and Poche, about writing an Imagination Movers’ television series.

“We had talked about it before. We’d pass each other in the supermarket and make up silly songs about the can of peas, and that was going to be the end of it,” added Poche. “But Scott, Scott held onto the idea.”

“This was the conversation that happened frequently and there was never any further talk, but that time we scheduled an actual meeting,” added Collins.

The four Movers were neighbors at the time – the farthest two lived four blocks apart – so they started meeting around 10 p.m. every night, after putting their kids to sleep. And almost immediately, Durbin bought blue coveralls, the group’s now signature uniform.

“We had the blue suits, our uniforms, before we had many songs or anything,” remembered Smith, inspiring their “Blue Suit Philosophy” – you’ve got to stay three steps ahead of where you are, in order to succeed in your goal.

As both Durbin and Collins had strong musical backgrounds, and Smith and Poche had experimented with music as well when they were younger, it was only natural to bring their music into the equation to create a “really rockin’ high energy music based kids show,” Collins explained.

The foursome quickly whipped up a treatment for a pilot, an episode about healthy eating. They wrote four songs and then just continued writing. While written for a very young audience, as dads, it was important to the Movers to put out music that was also appealing to parents, something that has even earned them a big following among dads.

“This is music that parents are not going to get tired of hearing,” said Sascha Penn, executive producer of the series and dad of two young sons. “It’s a throwback to the music that many of today’s young parents grew up listening to – you can hear the influence of bands such as Talking Heads and Beastie Boys in their sound.”

Added Kanter, “I think there are a lot of hip children’s musical performers that parents like, but that don’t quite connect to the kids. At Jazz Fest, the kids thought the Movers’ music was the coolest rock and roll they ever heard; the music really connected to them.”

In addition to the music component, a strong curriculum was equally as important to the Movers who created a simple mission statement – they wanted to encourage creativity in kids, model problem solving, promote self-esteem and foster independence, all of which is expressed in their signature phrase – “Reach high, think big, work hard, have fun.”

“The longer I taught the more I saw kids having trouble being creative thinkers,” remarked Durbin. “It was important to promote creative thought and model solving.”

Durbin envisioned the Idea Warehouse symbolizing the brain with the four guys representing the creative process; with the goal being to show children that there are multiple ways to solve a problem. To add their individual personalities into the show, each Mover was given a tool symbolic of their own real life persona. Collins’ “scribble sticks” symbolize his artistic personality and former career as a journalist; Durbin’s “wobble goggles” reflect his former life as an award-winning grade school teacher and his ability to see a situation from all perspectives; Poche has his “gadget hat,” reflecting his crafty personality and former job as an architect; and Smith is charged with his “Journal,” which reflects his adventurous Indiana Jones-like scholarly persona and his real-life role as a New Orleans firefighter.

Disney then hired co-executive producer and head writer, Rick Gitelson to take the Movers’ initial idea and reflect it in a story with a beginning, middle and end. “Disney came to me with the Movers’ music and what the guys had written, and the idea just caught me,” remarked Gitelson.

Educational consultant, Karen Leavitt, Ed.M., contributed by providing the specific nuts and bolts to answer questions like: How do you brainstorm? Why do you brainstorm? Why is brainstorming a necessary step when faced with a problem?

“The ‘Brainstorm Song’ is a key message we want to get out to kids. When you have a challenge, don’t shut down to it but think – think of ideas and you might come up with something that’s useful,” said Kanter.

In addition to music and strong core curriculum, the Imagination Movers felt strongly about shooting the television series in New Orleans. Disney agreed, wanting to support the Movers and the tight knit New Orleans community, especially in the aftermath of Katrina. The production employs approximately 100 local crew members.

When executive producers Penn and his partner Skot Bright first traveled to New Orleans after the storm, “We saw the Movers’ homes, or what was left of their homes,” remembered Penn. “You couldn’t help but feel like there was something bigger than the television series going on. It was bringing hope back to what was a really utterly hopeless situation.”

Penn and Bright had the opportunity to see the Imagination Movers affect on the children of New Orleans as well, when they attended the Movers performance for the re-opening of the New Orleans Children’s Museum. “These kids were absolutely terrified about what had happened,” Penn said. “And they came back to this place where they felt safe, and there were these guys who they knew and loved, and it was this magical experience. And to a certain extent, this entire production has felt that same way – these guys are at the heart of it. New Orleans is who they are, and they’re not going to forget the people who have helped create the Imagination Movers.”

“When we met the guys and heard the music, we knew immediately that this was not your standard preschool show,” added Bright. “There has not yet been a kids’ show that integrates music with scripted material in this way. ‘Imagination Movers’ is that next step in preschool programming.”  – Disney Channel –

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