OKC 'family funk super duo' Sugar Free Allstars playing sweet show for new 'Extended Play'
For 16 sweet years, Chris “Boom!” Wiser and Rob “Dr. Rock” Martin have been making music as the "family funk super duo" Sugar Free Allstars.
"We have crossed the threshold of ... some people that used to see our shows are young parents now," Wiser told The Oklahoman in a new interview. "It doesn't make us feel super old, but not young, either. But it's cool. It's like, 'Oh, this is great. It meant enough to them as kids that they want their children to experience it.'"
Back in 2006, the Oklahoma City duo shifted their focus from making music aimed at adults to tailoring their funky-fresh rock 'n' roll stylings to children. They've since emerged as repeat hitmakers on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live, been featured on the Grammy-winning children's album "All About Bullies ... Big And Small" and become mainstay entertainers at libraries across the state and beyond.
So, it's appropriate that the Sugar Free Allstars are celebrating the debut of their new appropriately titled album "Extended Play" — the pair's first EP and first new music collection since their 2016 self-titled LP — with a Sept. 30 OKC matinee concert at the Belle Isle Library's 60th birthday bash.
Wiser chatted with The Oklahoman about the the Sugar Free Allstars' new EP, his 20-year musical partnership with Dr. Rock, the duo's January concert with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and more:
Q: What are your thoughts on playing your EP release show at a library?
Wiser: In our genre, it's common. Almost every family musician that we know from all over the country has, at one time, if not still currently, plays libraries on a regular basis. ... When we were playing for adults, we were playing clubs, and so this is, in some ways, the equivalent of that for family musicians, because it's something you can count on. Every summer, the libraries have their summer reading programs all over the country. ...
It's the target audience. All people use the library, but it seems like the largest percentage of people that use the library on a regular basis are kids and families, because it's a great thing to do for free. ... We've had such a great relationship with the Metro Library System. They're basically the reason we got into this.
In 2006, we played a Twilight Concert Series show, and there were families there. So, we played some of our silly tunes that ended up on our first family album, and the next week or so, they reached out. They're like, 'Hey, would you like to do a tour of the library system?' So, that's why we released that first album, because, 'Well, if we're gonna be playing these shows at the libraries, we should probably have something available if people like the songs and want to take them home.' So, they might have been the most important factor in our career change and turn into family music artists.
Q: Do you have any regrets about making that change?
Wiser: We have zero regrets. ... Dr. Rock and I've been playing as a duo since 2003. So, we've been playing together, just he and I, oh jeez, for 20 years. That's insane ... but we might not have continued if our only option was still to just play in clubs and bars. That's tough. You start getting older, and playing in clubs can wear you down. ... So, this is pretty much the best thing that could have ever happened to the trajectory of this band.
We've had more success and attention on the national level — I mean, we never got attention on the national level. We would tour out of state, playing for adults. But one of our songs right now, '6th Grade Band,' is No. 5 on the SiriusXM Kids Place Live Top 13. Three of the songs on this EP we've released as singles ... and all three of those songs have gotten national airplay. I'm not confident that would have happened had we just stuck with playing for adults.
Q: And you guys do have other projects where you play music for adults? I think you've been part of The Tigers, Norman singer-songwriter Beau Jennings' band, for a couple of years now?
Wiser: Yeah. The keyboard player that had been playing with them was playing bass with another group that was getting busier, and it just worked out. ... With The Tigers, we play a couple of days once every couple of months, because we're all adults now with families and other things going on besides just The Tigers.
But I love playing in that band. I love that it's a great group of guys, and Beau's a great songwriter. Everybody in the band is a really good musician and gets to contribute. ... I play almost every Sunday at my church on keys, and then I've got another friend of mine, Brandon Birdwell, he plays out quite a bit, too, and I play with him. ...
So, it's nice to step away. But then I come back to this, and it's like, 'Ah, this is home, though.'
Q: What do you want people to know about your 'Extended Play’?
Wiser: Man, some people during the COVID shutdown got more productive, and, ugh, we just were trying to get by. We had these individual songs that we were releasing as singles, but then it's like, 'Well, maybe we can just put six songs together.' I've got tons of songs in different stages of being written ... so two of the singles are new songs.
But the '6th Grade Band' song was one that we had released before — and it actually had been released when I was still playing with the Hosty Trio. It was on the Hosty Trio album called 'Wig Trig,' which was from 1999. ... So, that song's been around, and it's getting some renewed life.
Q: Can you talk about making the '6th Grade Band' music video, which, like the song, is so relatable for parents and kids?
Wiser: Anybody that's been in school band can relate to those first several years of being in a group of 30 to 40 kids that are just learning a brand-new instrument and the chaos and the magic of that.
But we realized that we were thinking about doing a video like two or three weeks before the end of school, and you can't do a video about sixth-grade band without a sixth-grade band. So, we were frantically trying to call all my band director friends ... and we found out that Oakdale, where I used to teach some private lessons, was starting summer band the week or two right after school was out. ...
Mr. (Bob) Scott, the band director there, would play that '6th Grade Band' song for his kids, because it's pertinent for them — a lot of our friends that are band directors will play that song for their classes. So, they're like, 'Oh, yeah, we know this song.' After a couple of times going in and talking to him and getting all the release forms, we had all the kids from the video show up. And it was great: It was one of the smoothest video shoots I think we've ever experienced ... and it's one of our funniest videos for sure. There's some funny scenes where the parents were cringing, and they have Airpods in while the band is playing. We all can relate to that — my parents could totally relate to it.
Q: In January, you guys will play another Discovery Family Series concert with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. What is that like?
Wiser: Yes! It is always a blast playing with them. We did it in 2014 was the first time, and then in 2017. And every time, we're just blown away that we get to play with them. It's like, 'We can't believe we're here.' If somebody had said, 'Make a list of some really cool things in your music career that you would like to be able to do or think that you'll be able to do,' we wouldn't even put it on a list because it's like, 'Well, that's not gonna happen.' ...
First of all, just playing on that stage at the Civic Center. I mean, talk about some history: How many legendary artists have played on that stage? And then how many legendary artists have played with the Phil in their rich history? We're like, 'Wow, I guess we're respectable, if the Oklahoma City Philharmonic is cool with us playing with them.' (laughs)
It's definitely different. There's just two of us when we play regularly, and the show and the songs can go in any direction. There's a lot of room to just go with a flow. But when we're playing with a full orchestra, there are sections of our songs that we leave open for just rambling or us doing our stuff. But when the orchestra is in, it's like, 'You're gonna play it this way. This is the way.' ... Everybody has to be on the same page.
SUGAR FREE ALLSTARS IN CONCERT
'EXTENDED PLAY' EP RELEASE
When: 2 p.m. Sept. 30.
Where: Belle Isle Library, 5501 N Villa Ave.
Information: https://www.metrolibrary.org/event/sugar-free-allstars-concert.
WITH THE OKLAHOMA CITY PHILHARMONIC
When: 2 p.m. Jan. 14.
Where: Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker.
Information: https://www.okcphil.org/events-tickets/discovery-family-series.
To know more: https://www.facebook.com/SugarFreeAllstars.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Sugar Free Allstars to hold EP release party in OKC
