Children's group The Beanies have made it their mission to bring a bit of colour back into the lives of young children during dreary "lockdown" days.
The trio have been live streaming their zany and uplifting performances on social media as an anecdote to the general feeling of doom and gloom. Their concerts are free, target children aged three to eight, and include comprehension activities, dance lessons and craft.
Michael Yore is a proud Beanie. Born and raised in Merewether, he attended St Pius X High School at Adamstown but now calls Sydney home.
"I did drama all the way through high school but only really started performing when I was at university studying digital media," he tells Weekender.
"As it happened I was acting more in the theatre society than actually paying attention to my university degree but it has come in very handy. I'm the tech guy of the group and we do everything ourselves, including our videos."
The Beanies started out making independent music and podcasts, winning an Australian Podcast Award in 2018 in the Family & Kids category. Last year their third album Imagination Station was nominated for an ARIA Award. This year they signed with ABC Kids and released their fourth album, Full of Beans.
Like so many others, The Beanies have had to adapt to survive.
"We did a lot of live shows and it was the main way we made money and connected with our audience," he says. "When coronavirus happened we had to figure out how we could still perform and interact with our audience without being face to face with them all."
In addition to the weekly live streams, The Beanies have released a new single and video called Quarantunes which they hope will flip the narrative for children who might be picking up on their parents' stress, or who are feeling nervous about coronavirus. The song celebrates the fun parts of quarantining by encouraging children to party around the living room, "singing quarantunes and busting quaranmoves".
"When we make our videos we have to be very aware of social distancing," Yore says.
"It's a lot of fun. We're saying to the kids 'Look, even though you can't go outside and see your friends you can still have a party in your living room and it can still be fun. Everything is going to be OK. There are ways you can take this in your stride and have fun - it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom'. It's been a great learning curve and we can still interact with our audience through the comments."
The Beanies are thrilled to have signed with ABC Kids.
"It's been wonderful having them release our music. Before that it was all independent," Yore says. "It feels like we're getting our foot in the door in the children's entertainment industry in Australia at last."
