Two childhood classmates reunite over session work in Nashville, Tennessee and decide to form a band making some of the funkiest, wildest, most mind-blowing music out there today. A story line stolen right out the books of an ABC television mini-series, but in the case of Milwaukee-based Mrs. Fun, it really did happen.
Founded in Nashville in the late 80s by two session musicians, keyboardist/bassist Connie Grauer and drummer Kim Zick. Taking their name from a movie 'Gateways to Heaven' where Zick said everyone referred to each other by strange titles like Mrs. Fun and Mr. Happy. Like the movie characters use of unusual titles they would form a band that was part strange, part wild and entirely original. Still these childhood classmates, Zick and Grauer would have to relocate to Nashville as adults before they would realize each other’s musical soul mate was from their own backyard.
"The dynamics were extremely different, as kids Kim was very shy and I was more outgoing. Our paths didn’t cross. Kim thought I was a nerd. I thought she was a little quiet. We reconnected in college. In high school, we would just pass each other in the halls. We really connected musically. " Grauer said.
Once the two had decided to play together they never considered adding a third or fourth member to Mrs. Fun. They never perceived being a duo as limiting and in fact, saw it as liberating.
"Every time we play is a new adventure. Nothing gets stagnant, just the opposite. We’re totally free about this project. Really, really cool. It actually helps to be two players. When five people are on the stage, people need to know where they are going on stage. For us it is to our advantage. Really great players have sat in with us for a whole night, but not night after night." Grauer said.
After forming Mrs. Fun the two moved home to Milwaukee because they tired of the commute home from Nashville where the singer they were touring with was based. Milwaukee, Grauer says is a well-kept secret, a town with a nice balance of arts and a good music scene. Most importantly though, it offers the women of Mrs. Fun more room to do what they want to do.
Grauer admits that forming Mrs. Fun in Nashville with hometown chum Zick was a lucky fluke. Despite, what may have been a serendipitous beginning, being an independent band was a conscious decision. When Mrs. Fun first came on to the scene more than 10 years ago agents and managers they approached would not, as Grauer said "touch us with a 10-foot-pole." Mostly the lack of support from the music industry was a result of music industry executives not knowing what to do with this band. At the end of the 80s two women playing electric-acid jazz did not make it on to MTV or the Top-40 charts. So in the grand tradition of indie bands all over the world, Zick and Grauer each took on responsibilities and for the past ten years and five albums have marketed, managed and promoted themselves.
We do it full-time. It has proven to be very successful. Lots of friends of ours who are musicians who needed a job ended up taking a job and that job ended up taking over. We wanted to do all or nothing. And we are making a living making music." Grauer said.
In the late 90s an old Nashville acquaintance would resurface and offer to help Mrs. Fun make their next career step. Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls would sign Mrs. Fun to her Atlanta-based Daemon Records for their latest release Best of Mrs. Fun. For the Best of album, Ray and Mrs. Fun selected a smattering of Mrs. Fun songs spanning their entire career. Best of features two previously unreleased tracks 'Have Funk' and 'Fidgity Faj' that will go on their new album slated for release in early fall.
Having the label support of Daemon has allowed Grauer and Zick to slowly turn things over to others to handle. Till the 1999 release Mrs. Fun had handled everything in-house. While both acknowledge it was overwhelming to handle both the business and the artist side of the band, it something they both enjoyed.
"I love music and I love business. Kim is really good at record keeping. We both have our jobs. This is a first for us, to get the help we’re getting from Amy at Daemon." Grauer said.
The most difficult hurdle Mrs. Fun still has is their inability to categorize their music. In a business where up-and-comers are billed as the next-Melissa or Janis-of-the-new-Millenium, being different is not the golden road to commercial superstardom. Even the ladies of Mrs. Fun have a difficult time classifying their sound and their influences. Grauer, the choral director, might identify 20th Century Classical music as source of inspiration. More jazz influenced Zick would pick be-bop and jazz legends as influences. Helpful, but it still does not help define Mrs. Fun’s music.
"We’ve had to work hard to define our music, but even electro-acid jazz is kind of cryptic. A friend told us once that she can’t wait for the day when our music is defined as – that’s Mrs. Fun. " Grauer said.
For information on how to order a Mrs. Fun CD or listen to some of their tracks, check out their web site at www.mrsfun.com or www.daemonrecords.com