Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Anne Montone and Jennifer Cook of Again Again Are Helping To Change Our World
Our goal with our album Your Voice is Magic is to create opportunities for discussion on current important topics. Being parents ourselves, we understand the responsibility we have to have conversations about what’s happening in our communities.
As a part of our series about stars who are making an important social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Montone and Jennifer Cook of Again Again .
Los Angeles-based musicians Jennifer Cook and Anne Montone are Again Again, an award-winning performing duo that blends their exceptional vocal and songwriting talents to create “songs for our times,” which celebrate the extraordinary opportunities of growing up right now. Again Again’s second family album, Your Voice Is Magic, will be released on August 26, 2022.
Your Voice Is Magic is a bundle of loving messages about self-care, respect, and identity, in genres ranging from folk and pop to world dance music, with themes that directly relate to today’s childhood experience, including adoption, pronoun identity, girl empowerment, peaceful protest, fear of missing out, being the boss of your own body, anti-bullying, and more.
Thank you so much for joining us on this interview series. Can you share with us the backstory that led you to this career path?
Anne and I wrote music together starting in our early 20s. When we had children we were both independently making up songs for our kids… ie- bath time, bed time songs etc. Anne had the great idea of coming together to record these songs. Again Again was born.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What was the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?
We’re in the process of making a video for our new song Captain Bubble Beard. It’s very DIY and my son is doing all of the movements with the pirate play toys while in a bubble bath. It’s a learning process in directing a child on how to be a 2D toy animator while playing in a way that matches the lyrics of the song. I have a feeling I’ll be editing this one for a while.
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
Record what you create, even if it’s in bits and pieces that eventually get mapped together. If you don’t document your ideas, they can easily get left behind.
Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?
We would say that children make a profound impact on our lives on a daily basis and we are inspired to create music that speaks to them and guides them along their journey of growing up. For example, our song Girls Included was written as an anthem that reminds all of us that girls, all over the world, have a voice and should be treated equally.
How are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you’re working on right now?
Our goal with our album Your Voice is Magic is to create opportunities for discussion on current important topics. Being parents ourselves, we understand the responsibility we have to have conversations about what’s happening in our communities.
Can you share with us a story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?
Each song we write has its own cause. With the song Be Your Body’s Boss, for example, we focused on lyrics that promote self confidence and gaining the ability to trust yourself. “Your body’s special, it’s all yours, you’re your body’s boss… Listen to your heart and head, that’s the secret sauce!”
Can you share with us a story about a person who was impacted by your cause?
A friend’s kid had nasty hands and wasn’t washing enough. When she introduced our song Wash Your Hands March, she was so happy to have a song that supported her mission of clean hands. Her child now sings the song when scrubbing up. We also are aware of the impact our song Pronoun Party has. The song celebrates how we each choose to identify, which came handy over the Summer as there were a few non-binary kiddos at our kid’s camps.
Are there three things or are there things that individuals, society, or the government can do to support you in this effort?
We think the best support that musicians can have is when people buy their music, provide feedback and share with their friends and family.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started”
That the world of children’s music is a lot different than the world of pop and electronic. Knowing who our audience is in children’s music requires us to be more thoughtful about content. There’s a whole library circuit world that we didn’t know about when we were in an electronic band together. We learned that venues include more than just night clubs!…. birthdays, schools etc. Kids are amazing audience members. Getting them to participate in the show is important. It’s actually more rewarding to get kids to dance to your performance.
You’re a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Reminding kids: Your voice is magic. We want kids to feel heard. We want kids to speak up for what they believe and to know that we are listening. We want kids to see a future in which they belong.
Can you please give us your favorite life lesson quote? And can you explain how that was relevant in your life?
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker. Your Voice is Magic is a message to children that their voice matters. We as adults need to give children the confidence to use their voices. Our job, as adults, is to listen.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
We would love to have a private breakfast with Malala Yousafzai. She is living history and her story profoundly impacted us and our children. Through her courage and confidence, she enforces our album’s namesake: Your Voice is Magic. She spoke up as a child and continues her activism as an adult.
Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring, and we wish you continued success!
Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Anne Montone and Jennifer Cook of Again Again Are Helping… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.