A Family of Songwriters | Artist: Darden | Songs: "The Moon" LIVE!, "Happy and Sad"

I have been a big fan of the band DARDEN for a long time.  You’ll find them to be the real deal.  Authentic, honest and in it for the music as it connects to other people.  

Darden is a 5-piece family band, consisting of 3 sisters. Clara on guitar and vocals, Havi on mandolin and vocals, Tabbi on bass and vocals. Two brothers - Josiah on drums and Noah on keys. 

Enjoy the live-in studio session of their song "The Moon" and the delightful and engaging song "Happy and Sad", played in it's entirety.

https://dardentheband.com

Visit Barnes and Noble to purchase Lisa's book "THE CRAZYBRAVE SONGWRITER" 
OR  purchase a SIGNED COPY of Lisa's book from Lisa's website 

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Host: Lisa M Arreguin @ LivingCrazybrave.com
Recorded @ LoveandLaughterMusicGroup.com
Podcast Music: Joey Arreguin
Music bong: Andrew Kim
Engineering & Sound Design: Michael Jennings

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You are listening to the Crazy Brave Songwriter Podcast. This is a podcast about the magic of making music one song at a time. My name is Lisa m I'm happy to be your host for today. I have been a big fan of the band Darden for a long time. Originally, I first heard them sing in a small deli sandwich shop in Anaheim, California about seven years ago. And I couldn't believe the blend of their voices, the harmonies, and the variety of instruments they played as a vocal teacher. For years, I knew what I was hearing was exceptional and something different. And right there I became a fan following their career. As they continue to play locally, regionally, and internationally, you'll find them to be the real deal, authentic, honest, and in it for the music for music's sake as it connects to other people. Raised on the California coast in a family of musicians, the band grew up surrounded by musical influences from almost every genre. In the early two thousands, their parents piled them into an rv and together they embarked on several singing tours around the US traveling as far east as Ohio. Darden is a five piece family band consisting of three sisters, Clara on guitar and vocals, Javi on mandolin and vocals, and tabby on bass vocals. And two brothers, Josiah on drums, Noah on Keys. The three young ladies are joining me in the studio today. Even though you'll hear three different voices from Clara, Javi and Tabby, they sound amazingly like one solid voice, so solid and tight. In fact that you can't get a butter knife in between those voices. See if you can hear where one starts and the other begins. At the end of the show, I'll be playing a song they wrote called Happy and Sad, and they discuss a little about the songwriting backstory of that song and give some advice to artists about how to keep going in the business. I talk to them on the show about how they started their career, how they work, write, and collaborate, and about their long history of touring. And you'll get to hear for the first time ever, a live in-house performance recorded at Love and Laughter music studios in Anaheim. The song they are performing in-house is called the Moon. No mixing, tuning or changes have been made to their performance. So let's kick it off with the band Darden.

Speaker 2: 2:25

Check one, two, check one, two. Testing, testing.

Speaker 3: 2:31

Hi, we're Darden. My name's Clara. I'm playing the guitar, I'm Hala on the mandolin and my name is Tabitha on the bass guitar. And here's our original song, the Moon.

Speaker 4: 3:05

I can Stay Long. Quiet Breeze is my have

Speaker 5: 5:42

To.

Speaker 1: 6:13

That was awesome. Ladies who needs Autotune?

Speaker 6: 6:19

We have always had music in our family. Our grandfather was an entertainer for over 50 years. Oliver Orange County played the piano and sang and had a touring show and everything. And then our parents both sang and were dancers. And finally they started singing in church in bible college. Once they started having us one at a time, they thought it was kind of cool just adding one little singer at a time,<laugh> to the group. And so it was kind of a natural pro process and it turned into us singing on the road and traveling to different churches all over the US. So we would travel for nine months outta the year. The farthest we went was to Kentucky and Ohio and then we would just tour. We had this little tour mapped out every year and then we would go and stop at all these different churches all over the states. We had different favorite stops to make lots of little camps and different things. So we would do that and then come back for the holidays. The first few years was a trailer and we had like a carpooling the trailer and we'd all have to ride in the car and then we'd stop and unpack and all of that. And then the last several years was in a motor home, which we really liked cuz we could just be in there the whole time. And we'd, when we'd run the generator, we'd be able to watch Little House in the Prairie, our favorite show<laugh> and just relax in there. And then we'd do our school on the road too. We were all homeschooled so we'd bring all of our books with us and be able to look out the window, try not to get carsick doing our work<laugh>. And it was, it was fun. It was awesome. Before my brothers were born, it started out I think with the four girls when we actually started traveling it was 2002. So Tammy was, yeah, just starting to sing with the group. It kind of, uh, started winding down. I think it was, we started feeling like it was getting really difficult as we got older, we got bigger and less, there was less space so we were either gonna upgrade to a bigger bus or we were gonna settle down and find what we could do at home. And it just worked out. Our um, grandfather started helping us go into music lessons and we wanted to really focus on the instruments and learning and planting. So I think, I don't quite remember exactly when the day or when the decision was made that we were done. It just kind of happened where we're not gonna go on the road this year. We're going to be at home. We have a lot of shows. I think our grandpa, he was already doing the retirement community a ton and he had moved out of his clubs and all of that stuff and he had been playing in church and retirement communities for the past several years and he told my mom it would be a great avenue for for the kids to play and you can make a little extra money that way. And you know, they love to see young people come in and and sing the songs they know and you can come and piggyback on one of my shows. Yeah. And so we did. We,

Speaker 7: 8:59

And this is Tabitha speaking now. Um, I think that was the next phase, the next stage of the music because it taught us live performance and how to do live performance, how to write a show out and someone has to mc somebody has to count off the songs so we know how when to start and things like that. So it kind of took us off of being a family band and put us into like a, an entertainment environment.

Speaker 6: 9:27

This is Clara. I started with guitar when I was six. It's just was always what I wanted to play so I picked it up and I would carry it around everywhere. And then I've always played around with other instruments, but the guitar is the one that stuck with me and, and it was just normal as can be for me.

Speaker 8: 9:41

This is Jala. We all had taken ukulele lessons and we were taking some guitar lessons as well and piano lessons and the Mandoline, I guess it was comfortable cuz it's kind of as small as the ukulele. It just felt comfortable to play. I think probably because of the Y lessons I'm guessing.

Speaker 7: 10:00

This is Tabitha. I was in the ukulele phase for a long time. I think the longest the other girls had found their instruments, CILA on the violin. Clara guitar, holo Madelin. They stuck with those for probably a year or two years before I decided on the bass cuz I was just playing ukulele. Eventually Clara says we don't have a bass or anything holding down the music. There's too many strings going on and we also didn't have percussion of any kind. I was the odd man out with ukulele. Mm-hmm<affirmative>. So then I ended up picking up the uh, bass. We got a quarter size so it was very small and it was an upright bass. I went to an acoustic guitar bass and then eventually went to the electric bass guitar.

Speaker 8: 10:44

We do always say at the end of the day, majority rules for the band. So that helps because we'll start learning a song and we'll give it a chance. We also, another rule is that we have to give everything a chance<laugh>. So someone comes with a song that they wanna do, like a cover or something like that. We'll have, we'll work on it a little bit, we'll play it through a few times, like a few sessions of rehearsing and see how it goes. And then a lot of times just that helps. Like we can really get the feeling for the song. We can tell like if we're already bored playing it, it's just kind of like not going anywhere. Yeah.

Speaker 6: 11:15

And I find the most passionate corals we have are because we feel very strongly about what we're presenting. And so it's usually from a place of, I think this either sounds the best or would be interpreted the best. For me, school has changed a lot cuz I've done a lot of theory classes and before I didn't have that and we just relied on our ear. But now with the theory, I'm like, there's all these new ideas coming in. So I'm like, okay wait, this is the right harmony part. And so then we have like, well this is the part that sounds good to me and then, but this is the part that's that I like. So we have to, you know, give and take with that.

Speaker 7: 11:44

And I also have realized that our disagreements are all pretty logistical. The conclusion we come to is what sounds the best.

Speaker 6: 11:54

We've rare, we rarely get into personal fights anymore. We used to, of course we went through all of that, but now we've tailored it to why are we arguing and then we usually are able to back up and look at what we're trying to get, what's the objective here and then we're able to talk it through. So it's been really good. And then if we get into disagreement and it's like before a show or something by the end of the show, we would feel great because the music just playing together just irons out everything and you can't be mad for an entire two hours or however long. The show

Speaker 8: 12:21

<laugh>, when I started writing it was a lot of writing tunes and melodies and and chords and stuff like that. And I wasn't really into the lyrics as much, but lately I will start with probably like a first verse or like a chorus part with lyrics. And then a lot of times I can't really find a melody to match it. So that's when I'll take it to like Tabby or Clara cuz the guitar helps a lot of times. But with like for a singing melody, a lot of times I'll ask Tabby more, if I need cords, then I'll ask Clara. That recently has been what's been happening, at least with some newer songs. I, it's hard sometimes to find a melody that matches it. So I'll just write probably like half of the song or even less and then I'll just bring it to the table. Lately

Speaker 6: 13:08

For me it's been, I have a, a thought during the day or something and I just write it down just a line maybe and then I'll go back to it later and work around it. But the way I write right now is just singing and playing at the same time. Not judge myself so much and just come up with anything that comes to my mind and then just record it on a voice memo and then I'll, you know, be cringing laughing, listening to it. But there's something good in there sometimes we're all still living together and we can approach each other with an idea and someone's gonna have something to bounce off of it. And I mean the girls are phenomenal with melodies. JLA is really good with melodies and lyrics and stuff that I would never think of. And same with Tabitha. Like she'll come with a song that I would just, I just like, wow. It's like a perfect song already and she's just written it. And so it's really fun because we can, we can bounce ideas off of each other and there's always something fresh.

Speaker 7: 14:01

Writings are not lacking. That's not something we have a problem with yet is having material, original material, what the, the problem is. Or I guess our, our roadblock you could say is recording it fast enough and getting it out there fast enough.<laugh>. Mm-hmm<affirmative> she goes, we're always like, whoa, I have a new song in a new one and then someone else has another one and then somebody else about the songs and then it's like three or four or five over the past week or something or two weeks. I love making music and writing music because of the possibility of making somebody feel how I do when I hear something that I love that was written musically or lyrically, like I'll hear one of my favorite songs, Scarborough Affair, Simon and Garfunkel. And it can change your whole outlook on life. Your moods or your motivation or drive it can change all that

Speaker 5: 14:58

Pars,

Speaker 8: 14:59

All of us, six siblings all have the ability to do it. And it seems like, like we're all very passionate about it and we all, it all works when we do it

Speaker 6: 15:09

Together. It's the one thing that we can go back to. Like there's something where you just know that it's what you're meant to do and it's not in a way that there's pressure. It's not in a way that's like, oh I have to do this because this is what our family does. It's when you know you have a calling and I, and I think we're really blessed to know our calling cuz a lot of people spend years trying to find what that is and it takes time to figure that out. And I mean we were lucky that we were put into it so young, but I think it's something that we know it would be a shame to let it go. And so all the work is worth it and whatever struggle we have to go through, it's definitely a God ordained thing for us to do. And just what Tabby was saying as well about the joy and the hope that it can bring to people, the capability of that is really incredible. And we've been able to see it firsthand just in performing, especially in retirement homes where they don't get a lot of visitors, they don't get a lot of young people coming in and just their faces light up and even if they have dementia or other ailments, they can sing the songs and remember the songs and it's the music that brings back those memories and those pathways. And so it is therapy, it is all of that. If I'm going through something sometimes there's no way I feel like I can release it and I always turn back to the music and I always am able to write my thoughts and sing about it to myself and it just, it is therapy for me.

Speaker 7: 16:26

One of the coolest parts about this is that the outcome isn't necessarily why we're doing this. Meaning where we end up in our lives down the road is not a concern of mine because we're doing it right now. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> because we're having all those life moments that are so part of the human experience because we're doing something that we actually believe in.

Speaker 6: 16:49

One of the greatest examples I can think of, of the synchronicity. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> factor of being in the right place at the right time, just answering the call of what we were supposed to do. We were singing at an assisted living or a rehab care center. There was this lady in the audience just bawling to all of her songs and she was crying and, and she was like, oh, like I love this music. Where are you guys from? And so we ended up talking with her and she was there for her mom, uh, who is receiving care there. And she been there for a little while and it turns out she's in the music industry. She's been a manager for years, she's been working with management companies and she has all these connections. She knows people and she's already thinking like, I wanna get you guys on this show. I wanna start this reality show with you. I wanna do this recording Vertu producer and all these ideas. And you know, that was so new to us back then and we were on board with all of it and turns out that was a niece who is our manager now for all these years. We flew out to Michigan and it was during January so it was snowing still. It was freezing cold. And of course we have not been around that kind of weather for a long time, so we were kind of shell shocked by the cold. We brought like big fur coats and everything and they were much needed.<laugh>. Our goal was to complete a whole song, to write and record a whole song through that week and have fun in the process. And we bought a ton of mini bagels. We found out that was our recording snack thing that we just stuck with and we, we did it, we, we completed our goal. We, uh, wrote that song and it kind of stemmed from a long conversations, which we always end up having with him. He's, he's quite a thinker as well. So we always come up with these random stuff,<laugh>, random things to talk about and that was one of the conversations we trailed off into. And it was the feeling of when you're in a certain point in your life that you know that you have to make a certain decision. Right. And it's kind of more, less a heart decision, it's more of a knowledgeable, like a mind smart decision that this needs to be done, this is the right thing, this is what I know is right, but it doesn't feel great. It feels really difficult because your heart is involved. Yeah, yeah. It's an emotional thing. So we'd all, I think he even too, we were talking sharing experiences of recently stuff we had been going through that related to that. And we started out the week by saying we don't wanna write a love song because we have too many of those. Those are just a dime a dozen and we wanna do something a little bit different. He's a genius on the piano, so he's the one that that came up with the piano hook and he played that and recorded it on the album and um, then we recorded it. We made do, cuz he didn't have his studio at that time, um, going and so at the house we set up in the basement, I think we set up like in a closet, some cushions, some pillows and pillowcases,

Speaker 8: 19:39

Different things in the closet.

Speaker 6: 19:41

<laugh>. Yep. And he had set up a little control room and one of the bedrooms and then had a little cords running like up the stairs or something. Yeah, up the stairs. And then we, there were some points where we hit where we couldn't think of a certain line or maybe a spot. So we'd run out into the cold for inspiration,<laugh> And then we'd make some more tea. Made tons of tea. Another thing we like to do and that we tried to do with this song is to make it to where it can be almost about any situation. So you could even turn it into a love song, you could turn it into a breakup or whatever you want. But it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be something that's constricting that way to where someone could think of their current situation and say, I relate to that because you know, I have to quit this job that I love or whatever it may be. Leave a bad, you know, maybe a toxic situation but you still love the person or things like that, that real issues that people deal with that we really like to get to. We like to talk about those things and we like to like dive into that. Yeah. It's like a

Speaker 8: 20:42

Very simple song but very open at the same time. It's like that's how we wanted it to be. It's

Speaker 6: 20:47

An open conversation. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 7: 20:50

Most artists would agree. When I say that you have to play to live.

Speaker 8: 20:57

Kind of touching on what Tabby was saying, if it's really what you love to do, then you'll just stick with it and it will always come back to you and it will always be something you can go

Speaker 6: 21:06

Back. Yeah. And I agree with that. The day in and the day out. Just doing it. Doing it when you don't feel like it always. And the the main, I think piece of advice that comes to mind for me is just perform, perform, perform, play for people, anyone that will listen. If you have to do open mics or if you have the opportunity and if people want to hire you, that's even better.<laugh>,

Speaker 7: 21:25

<laugh>. Get as much experience as you possibly can.

Speaker 9: 21:29

Happy answer. Why does a good thing feel so bad? Like tears in heaven, a winner in Spain like sunset

Speaker 5: 21:42

Dawn,

Speaker 9: 21:44

Why is the right thing feels so wrong? And just like that I'm happy and sad.

Speaker 7: 21:51

One two.<laugh>

Speaker 6: 21:53

A good challenge.

Speaker 9: 21:55

Challenge

Speaker 1: 21:56

The song Happy and sad played in its entirety.

Speaker 10: 22:14

I'm walking

Speaker 9: 22:15

Away,

Speaker 10: 22:17

You're calling my name, but I'm not. Can't save this time. Stars won't. And you're telling me why I can't leave it behind.

Speaker 9: 22:34

Such a good

Speaker 5: 22:36

Mistake.

Speaker 9: 22:38

Wish didn't have to wake. Now that I'm awake,

Speaker 5: 22:50

Why

Speaker 9: 22:50

Does a good thing feel so

Speaker 5: 22:51

Bad?

Speaker 9: 22:53

Tears in heaven. Winner is, why does the so just like sad? Embrace the truth is hard to face. I'm not gonna

Speaker 5: 23:31

The consequences. So bitter happy does

Speaker 9: 23:45

So bad. Tears in heaven winner spring, why does the right thing? So just like happy and sad,

Speaker 5: 24:28

Happy.

Speaker 9: 24:30

What is good thing? Feel so bad. Tears in heaven. The winner So wrong. Just like

Speaker 1: 25:26

This is Lisa again and I wanna take this moment to applaud the team at Love and laughter music group.com, A safe and knowledgeable spot for musicians who wish to learn more about writing songs and recording great music. This episode is a product of living Crazy brave.com, another hub where musicians can cultivate new awareness about what it takes to honor the sacred art of making honest music. I had a great time with the band Darden, and I love hearing the Darden music philosophy, how they use music as a force of change, bringing happiness to others when they are performing, and how staying busy in their collective calling gives meaning to their lives. The famous bass player, Abraham Lab Boreal, just look him up. Arguably one of the best bass players in the world, and I'm fortunate to call him a friend just received a Grammy trustees award for his journey of excellence in the business. He said a memorable quote. He said, remember to be a musician is not a competitive sport, but a collaborative art like the Dardens. If you are an artist, find strength in other musicians and producers jump in and take a risk to perform songwriter and exchange ideas together. Your musical collaborations and connections will help sustain you and carry you forward in this crazy business for the rest of your musical life.