She's put stripey socks on the sartorial map (at least in the kidswear department) and together with husband, Mark (aka Buzz) and their band of stripey sock musicians, Tina (aka Lah-Lah) has made the music of big band accessible to children.
This year sees Lah-Lah's Big Live Band celebrate a decade on our screens and stages and to mark it Tina, Mark and their crew are hitting the road with a national 10th anniversary tour of Australia. We caught up with Tina amid her busy tour schedule to find out what it's like being mum and musician, how she feels about karaoke and who exactly is responsible for washing all those stripey socks??!
TLH: how exciting Lah Lah’s Big Live Band is celebrating 10 years – will you be doing anything different this tour to commemorate your decade birthday?
TH: It’s so exciting. Can you believe I’ve been wearing stripy socks for 10 years? For us I think it’s wonderful to have a chance to celebrate this milestone with all families. What is interesting now is we are seeing multi-generational families and kids who started with us who are now starting high school. For us it’s all about the birthday tour. This is our biggest and most exciting tour. I’m super proud of the show.
TLH: what do you love most about performing live?
TH: Definitely meeting families after the show. We still do meet and greets after every show and we’re the only group in Australia that does this. It started as a simple idea, we wanted children to have a chance to touch and play the musical instruments. This is still what parents post on social media as one of the best show experiences.
TLH: what are 10 things your fans may not know about you?
TH: 10 things…
1. I grew up on a farm in Jamberoo and love animals. I had horses, a goat, rabbits, ducks geese. Its why I’m always trying to trick Mark into letting me get chicken (we live in a very small inner city house)
2. I love coffee, oh I think everyone already knows that
3. I’m half Chinese. My mum was born in Borneo and my Dad is Aussie.
4. I used to play the alto saxophone at school
5. I’m married to Mark aka Buzz (people are still surprised at that one)
6. I’ve had breast cancer 7 years ago, not fun but I’m a much brighter stronger gal after that.
7. I love making and creating, writing songs dreaming up stories
8. When I’m not on stage I’m in the office. There’s a huge amount of work that goes into putting a tour on and we do it all! Booking venues, organising marketing etc we’re nuts!
9. I do all the washing. Yes when we’re on tour I do all the washing, I really need to fix that, I literally am always surrounded by stripy socks!
10. Lah-Lah was originally called Wah-Wah because that’s what my youngest daughter used to say “wah-wah” but when I went to register the name it was taken, so Lah-Lah which I like much better was born!
TLH: how do you strike a good balance between motherhood and music?
TH: Me? I don’t, I don’t think there is such a thing. Balance is some weird term we put on ourselves. I have utter chaos and I’m ok with that. My kids learn instruments and we’re just coming through the tricky years and now they can join groups and compose and are pretty creative all on their own.
TLH: where do you draw inspiration from when you write songs and what’s your favourite part about the process?
TH: I sing into my phone and write lyric sing into a note pad, then put them all together. It’s a process that works really well for me.
TLH: why is it important for children to be exposed to music from early on?
TH: Oh my goodness we should have started there. Music is brain food. As parents we want to give our kids the best start in life. We want to help them with their emotional, physical and social development. Music does all of this. Music helps children express themselves, it helps grow and develop their imagination and creativity; it makes better little humans. But best of all it’s easy to start at home and not expensive, grab some pots and pans and pop on ITunes or just sing! Singing with your child and encouraging your child to sing is THE best thing you can do.
TLH: in your opinion, what are the benefits for children who learn to play a musical instrument?
TH: Learning a musical instrument does all of the above but it’s more. It’s tough, it takes patience, it takes practice, it takes commitment. These are all great life skills!
TLH: I love the fact you educate through performance, what lessons can we expect from this year’s tour?
TH: We love writing early childhood concepts into our music so we’ll do high and low, fast and slow, stop and go and loud and soft into the songs. We interact and ask the kids questions in the show. The more we can get little ones to sing, dance and join in the more they are absorbing and the more they will remember and learn.
TLH: what advice would you give to young aspiring musicians?
TH: Go for it!!
TLH: what is your favourite song to belt out at the bar/in the car/for karaoke?
TH: Oh I’m no belter and I’m so shy if I’m out at Karaoke. I’d much rather had a big glass of red wine and listen.
Lah-Lah's 10th Birthday Party Tour is currently playing with dates in QLD, SA, NSW, VIC and WA until 18 November 2018. Book your tickets now to join Lah-Lah, Buzz, Mr Saxophone, Tom-Tom and Sneezy Squeezy as they jam their way all over the land!
To read our review of the tour click here.